Bear My Fear
by NaiveWriter
Summary: After he recovered from his sickness, Daniel found himself in the facility filled with dreadful creatures. As he ventured into the facility, he witnessed the horrors that were held in the facility. Something inside the facility was scaring him and slowly driving him crazy. How will he survive all of it?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead...(SED and all of that nonsense names belongs to me...)**

Year 2019... SED Base

"Goddammit!" Thomas Rogan slammed his fist on the table. He couldn't believe that the leader of SED didn't allow him to leave. There was a facility known to public as "EFI Research Facility" that his reliable sources, including some survivors from a nearby city, claimed that the facility was the cause of the world collapse. If it was true, he and his team could infiltrate the facility and get rid of the threat. Unfortunately, the moronic SED leader forbade him to leave. _Heck, he didn't even listen to my damn explanation about how threatening it could be to everyone if the problem wasn't solved immediately._ _Something in that facility caused this havoc... _He had that feeling before. The same feeling to do something right just like in 1998 event..._At least Sophie wasn't in this EFI facility. Great._

"So, what do we do now?" Oh. Rogan almost forgot that he wasn't alone in his room. His fellow commando..."Captain" Dan Taylor was walking back and forth, feeling a bit upset after hearing what Rogan had been through. He was the only person from the AMS who followed Rogan to SED. AMS was disbanded many years ago. G never told Rogan where he went but he never lost contact with his old colleague. Amy Crystal, Harry Harris and Kate Green were in the underground bunker with the survivors, doing whatever they can to keep them safe. Gary Stewart...was nowhere to be found...Everyone presumed that he's dead but Amy still believed that he's still out there in the wasteland... _James Taylor...gone with the "World" according to what Kate and G told Rogan...He was a great agent._.._and his young relative is right here with Rogan, still fighting for what he believed_ _in...hope_.

"Our request was denied by the SED..." Taylor spoke up after a brief pause. "There were still many of those things out there, killing stranded civilians and we're still here with the SED, doing nothing..." _That does it! I'm going to go nuts if I don't do something soon... _"We're on our own now..." Rogan stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Taylor, get our men ready. I don't care if that hollow head idiot forbid me to go out, we're leaving in five minutes!" "Yes sir." Taylor saluted. He went out and called the teams and prepared himself. "Team A1 to A6, this is Captain Dan Taylor. Code E61, we have an urgent mission. Be ready in 5 minutes."

Rogan was still in his room, looking at a picture in his hand. Sophie was holding Lisa in her arms, smiling at him...Lisa? She didn't even look at him. _Of course, she's always mad at me for not spending time with them._ Something told him that this might be the last time to see them...He just hoped that he was wrong. He armed himself with a shotgun and left the base with his team.

The memory of his family appeared in his mind. _Rogan... Sophie whispered. Please come back soon... her voice faded away, followed by his daughter's angry voice...You'd better be back soon!_ Rogan simply smiled.

_I'll be back soon...I promise._

**Author's notes: I'll take this SLOWLY...Ok, I heard that AMS was disbanded...and the world collapsed at 2003. I hope I got the right info... Quick info: "SED" (Swift Executor Division) are groups of commandos and fighters. They are a part of the main group called "Endurance". Please note that the names of the characters here (and later in future chapters) are fiction characters. No intention to offend anyone.**

**...Looks like it's the same pattern here...first short chapters and long chapters after... Hmm, peculiar pattern.**


	2. Necrophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead...(Umm...Katherine is mine though...)**

Chapter 1

_"Past is beautiful..._

_Tender, soft and cool..._

_Whisper to me, past..._

_...How long will this last?..."_

Year: 1984...

The front door of the mansion opened and Dr. Roy Curien entered the hall. "I'm home." he spoke up. A few seconds later, a brown haired boy ran down from the stairway to greet him. "Dad! You're back!" the boy shrieked as he ran to his father and gave him a hug. A brown haired woman in viridian gown approached Curien with a kind smile on her face. "Hey, how's my little boy doing?" Curien bent down and caressed his son's face. "I'm fine, dad...now that you are back." the boy answered. The woman carried the child in her arms before she walked with Curien up the stairs to the living room.

When they reached the living room, the woman put her son down on the sofa and gave him a kiss before she turned her attention to Curien. She waved her hand, making a sign language _'How was your day?'_. Curien frowned a bit and answered her _'I had a fight with my employer...'_ The woman looked worried. _'Anything I can do to help?'_ she gestured. Curien glanced at his son, who was sleeping soundly on the sofa...then back to his wife._ 'You already helped me, Katherine.'_ His wife smiled and cuddled him. "As long as my family is alright, I have nothing to worry about." Curien whispered to his wife... They kissed.

* * *

"Dear past, answer me

"How come I couldn't see?

Where is the warm light?

...Darkness gives me fright..."

Year: ?

_Everything is so cold...Why is it cold? Why is everything so dark? ...I'm scared. "Daniel..." It's a voice of a woman...but I don't know her...Who is she? "...Daniel..." her voice is so cold...and so intimidating...How come I cannot move?..._

**_"DANIEL!"_**

Daniel's eyes snapped opened and gasped for air. He glanced around his surroundings. He winced. _This...this isn't home...not a hospital either... Where am I then? _He felt disoriented...then realized that he was lying on the metallic table. He couldn't see what was around the room clearly since the lights were blinking rapidly as if they would died away any seconds. The room had no windows. There were several machines around the room and lots of papers scattered on the tile floor.

_"You're awake, my dear child..." _said the voice, full of satisfaction. _"Look, the moon has smiled..." _He got up and looked around for the person who spoke. "W-who's there?" he stammered, eyes still glancing around the room. The woman's voice echoed around the room. _"Come, while night is young..." _the voice continued with an icy tone. _"...let them eat your lung."_ It ended with a dry laughter that sent a cold feeling down his spine. The voiced died away and the room was filled with deadly silence.

Daniel got off the table and landed on the cold floor. He felt a bit dizzy as he headed towards the door. _Where is everyone?...Where's dad? "Your 'daddy' is not here." _The voice called out in a mocking tone. _"Just you, me and these adorable friends..._ Daniel froze. "F-friends?" he stood very stiff between the door. The way the voice spoke the word 'friend', it gave him chills. "Who are you?" Daniel blurted. _Silence_. "W-where are you?" he turned back to look at the room. There was nobody there...yet there was an answer from somebody.

**_"Dearest boy...I am everywhere."_**

The lights suddenly died away and the room went completely dark. Daniel bolted away from the room and ran in to an area that appeared to be a parking lot. A dim-lighted parking lot. There were no people around. This made him felt...scared. Across the parking lot was a stairway that led to the higher floor. As he approached the stairway, a chilly breeze blew at his back, making him shiver in cold. _Heh, I wish my pajamas is thicker than this..._

When he finally got up to the upper floor, his eyes went wide. The whole area in front of the building was filled with dead bodies lying around. The sun was already gone and the sky was getting dark quickly. The chilly breeze began to blow softly, decreasing the temperature down. Soon, it would be too dark to see. He went to the front of the building and entered. More dead bodies lying around on the floor...it was getting in to his nerves...

_"Are you alone, child?"_ the dry voice seemed to come out from the walls of the building. Daniel didn't answer. He tried to ignore it. _"You know how rude it is to ignore someone, child?"_ _Very...but it's also not good to talk to strangers_... Daniel kept his mouth shut as he walked pass dead bodies on the floor and slowly headed for the elevator. _"Rude little pup! Somebody have to teach you manners!"_ the voice hissed harshly through the walls. Moans and groans were heard...Daniel realized that they came from the corpses...which were rising slowly on their feet.

The corpses tilted their heads with their full attention on Daniel. They charged for him, waving their hands wildly. Daniel ran away from them but one of grabbed his neck and pulled him away from the elevator. _"How sweet...death is sweet."_ the voice whispered. The biggest corpse strangled him. _"It slows your heart beat..."_ it continued. Daniel was choking. He tried to pull those hands away from his neck...but it was far stronger than him. _"Darkness grasps your sight."_ the rest of the dead were growling at the corpse that was strangling Daniel... He heard a crash. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a walking corpse with an axe in its hands, swinging it wildly as it came towards him. _"...Soon, there'll be no light..."_ the voice chuckled.

The zombie with an axe wasn't so careful enough. It accidentally chopped the head of the other corpse...making the rest of the dead roared in fury, including the one that was strangling Daniel. It let go off Daniel and took the axe from that zombie and sliced him in half in rage. Daniel gasped for air...and sneaked away from the corpses. When he went inside the elevator, he heard something flying towards him. An axe just hit the wall in the elevator. The zombie threw another axe at Daniel but the elevator closed just in time to block the axe. The elevator moved slowly upward.

Daniel pressed himself against the corner with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around his shaking frame. _"Don't be scared, child."_ the voice called again. _"They just wanted to kill you."_ Daniel winced at those words. He had absolutely no clue where he was or how long he was here. _Where is dad?_ Daniel sobbed quietly. _Where are you, dad?..._

_"Your dad is not here, child"_ the voice snickered.

_"He's not here..."_

* * *

**Author's notes: I know this isn't scary-at all...but it's my first try. Thanks for views and reviews...(OMG...it's WAY too long...)**

**By the way, my semester 2 is already started...so don't be upset if I'm slow at updating...sorry...university stuff is slowly killing people...the 'self correction' is also killing...*sighs***


	3. Hemophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead.**

**(First time ever...Warning:...blood here...there...everywhere...should I rated this M?...well, my description is quite bad so I don't think that is necessary...)**

Chapter 2

_"Don't be scared, my boy..._

_Don't lose all your joy_

_I am always here_

_Always keep you near..."_

Year: 1987

It was very late at night when Dr. Curien heard his son screamed from his room. Katherine jolted up from the bed and was alarmed by the scream. They ran out to the hallway and entered their son's room. They found their son on his bed, crying and shaking in fear. Dr. Curien rushed to his son's side and comforted him. Katherine was standing by the bedside reassuring her son that everything was alright. After a while, their son calmed down and fell asleep in Dr. Curien's arms. He tugged his son in bed and left the lights and the door open.

'Must be a terrible nightmare he had there.' Katherine gestured to her son. Dr. Curien nodded. 'I'll be scared too if I dream about blood...' he told her. Katherine hugged her husband...

* * *

_"I see something there_

_There's no need to glare_

_That river of blood_

_Drown you like the flood..."_

Year:?

Daniel jumped a bit when the elevator suddenly stopped. When the elevator's door slid open, Daniel pressed himself closer to the corner. The hallway on this floor was completely dark. Like an endless corridor leading to the dark. _"What's the matter, dear?"_ the voice echoed seemed to come from the hallway itself. _"There's no need to fear."_ _Yeah, right_...he scoffed. _"What awaits you there..."_ it continued with a mocking tone. Daniel sighed, "Oh, why should you care?!" the voice went silent.

He couldn't stay there forever anyway. There was a sign pointed to the dark hallway that said 'DBR Institute' but he didn't notice it. He went inside the dark hallway. He depended on his hands to feel the walls through the dark hallway. After a while, he felt something wet around his hands but he ignored it. He saw a lighted room at the corner and walked towards it...it felt good to finally step in to a lighted place. When he glanced at his hands...he almost screamed. Blood...blood all over his hands and his wrists. The wetness that he felt back there in the dark hallway...they were blood!

At that moment, he heard something snarling. He looked around but he didn't see anything. A drop of thick red liquid fell from the ceiling and dripped on his shoulder...he jerked backward, looked at his shoulder and saw...more blood. He looked up to the ceiling and saw something terrifying. A number of humanoids soaked in blood crawled all over the ceiling and watched Daniel with hungry red eyes. Daniel screamed. The bloody humanoids snarled again and reached out their bloody limbs to catch Daniel. All Daniel could do was to run away from them as far as possible. He exited the room into another dim-lighted hallway. _Man, this place is like a labyrinth..._Daniel was panting hard from running.

_"Run, my boy, just run..."_ the voice spoke again. Daniel glanced at the back to see whether those humanoids were following. He didn't look what was in front of him. _"You'll miss all the fun"_ Daniel hit something hard and fell back to the cold floor. His eyes went wide when he saw something in front of him. _"All the pain and screams..."_ A fat gray-skinned monster turned its humongous frame around and stared at Daniel. It growled loudly and came for him. _"Blood gushes out like streams..."_ the voice echoed. Daniel backed away from it but the monster caught his arm and pulled Daniel closer. _He's going to eat me!_ Daniel panicked. _"Bon Apatite."_ the voice cackled wickedly.

As Daniel struggled to break free from the monster's grip, he saw those bloody humanoids right above him. They roared and pulled Daniel away from the grey undead, up to the ceiling. _Great, they even steal among themselves just to eat me... _The bloody humanoid that caught him bend its head forward to bite him, Daniel held out his hands and pushed it away from him. At this close range, he saw the appearance of this abomination clearer. It was mostly yellowish skeleton covered with red mushy muscles that doesn't seem to hold blood. More of them were crawling towards Daniel, wanting to tear him apart...one of them bit Daniel's arm. He screamed...while the voice laughed at his misfortune.

Screaming was a very bad move if a person doesn't want to attract more things that wanted to eat him alive...this was no different. More and more of decayed zombies including the fat zombies came through the doors in the hallway and headed to the source of loud commotion. Sounds of moaning and groaning quickly filled the quiet hallway and drown the boy's scream. Somehow, the voice was still clear in the hallway... _"Hush now and sleep tight. This dark and cold night...When you close your eyes...the bright round sun dies..."_ the voice murmured. The sound of flapping was heard in the air vents.

A bunch of oversized bats swarmed in through the air vents and started to bite everything in its way. The bloody humanoids were the first to be bitten and fell off the ceiling down to the ground where hungry zombies were waiting. Daniel fell on top of the dead zombie and quickly crawled out from the hallway away from the zombie mob and a swarm of bats. He went in to the stairway at the end of the hallway. He was bleeding pretty badly and the wound on his arm was started to feel numb. There were no crazy dead things around the spiral stairway, which was good. His other hand pressed on the wound hard, trying to stop the bleeding. And when he thought that he was safe in the stairway, the gates around the stairway moved and it shut the path where he came in... He startled.

The gates rattled and the stairway itself shook as something big was climbing its way upward. When Daniel looked down through the bars to see what was coming...he thought he stopped breathing. A deformed sloth was climbing up in an alarming speed. He ran up the stairs and tried not to fell off the stairways in to the abyss down below. _"Such a coward little pup..." _the voice groaned. The sloth was getting closer, shaking the whole cage and the stairway as it moved towards Daniel. Daniel winced every time he passed each floor. There were no open gates that he could escape from this beast. The sloth seemed to be frenzied and started banging its head against the cage. Without a warning, a bunch of decayed bodies fell down from the bars in the ceiling. One fell in front of Daniel.

"!" Daniel looked around for possible exit and-he saw an open gate on the next floor. The beast was done with its banging and continued its way to snatch him. Daniel ran there as fast as he could and finally made it out. He shut the gates just in time before the sloth came banging its long claws against the gates. Its white eyes stared at nothing in particular. He noticed that the sloth was blind. _He must have used his sense of hearing and touching to look for me..._ Daniel turned to another long passage that would lead to the Bio Labs._"Run...run...run..."_ the voice mocked. _"That is the only thing you can do best, child? That's very disappointing."  
_

Daniel frowned. He stopped and stared at the wall as if the woman's voice was there. "Shut up, will you?!" he blurted out. The voice merely laughed at his sudden outburst as if it was satisfied. He sighed and continued his way down the passage while holding his bleeding arm.

**Author's notes: That sloth Fool is the noisiest, the craziest boss in the arcade and I hate it so much. I planned to make the part with the Fool longer but it didn't go according to plan. At least I did the creepy part ...My first attempt in trying to make people scared...way to go. Thanks for all the views...**


	4. Botanophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (Katherine...you're still mine. Andrew, I own you too.)**

Chapter 3

_"My beautiful green._

_Nowhere to be seen._

_Next time when we meet_

_I'll fall on your feet..."_

Year: 1987

It was a nice summer morning where Katherine and her son were sitting in the garden beside the fountain in front of the mansion. Her son seemed to be happy around plants. Katherine glanced back at the mansion and stood up. She pointed at the mansion and waved at her son. 'Go check your father whether he's alright.' Her son nodded and ran back inside. He almost hit the young butler while running through the hall. "Be careful, Master Daniel." the butler called out. "You're not supposed to run." the boy stopped and turned around. "Andrew...where's dad?" he asked the butler.

"Still in his room doing his research. Master Daniel, I suggest that you should not bother him." "Don't worry. I won't." the boy answered. He turned back and started running again. The butler sighed when he heard a loud bump a few seconds later. 'Told him not to run...' he rubbed his temple. Katherine entered the main hall with a bundle of flowers in her hand.

Daniel opened the door and saw his father dosing off on his desk full of papers. He walked to the sofa, grabbed a blanket and covered his father. He was about to leave the room when something on the desk caught his attention. He took the paper and had a quick glance at it. 'Plant's Regeneration'. He sat down on the sofa and read the paper quietly.

* * *

_"You are bleeding red_

_Something wants you dead._

_Stay alert and strong..._

_Something will go wrong..."_

Year:?

Daniel was leaning against the door. His bleeding slowed down a bit but it was still painful. It was getting cold. When the temperature was cold, human tissues tend to be more sensitive to pain. He turned around and open the door...and his eyes went wide. This section of the facility was covered with tangled vines and sharp looking roots. The whole place looked like a crazy jungle. The walls had cracks with spikes protruding from those openings. The lights in the ceiling were surround by thick vines and branches, dimming the luminance. What made this worse was that it was nighttime. Plants would suck all the oxygen and release carbon dioxide. He won't last long here...

_"Well...**THIS**...I must see." _the voice chuckled in amusement. Daniel was pretty mad at the voice but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He went through the room cautiously and as quiet as possible. Last time he screamed, a bunch of undead found him. In his current condition, he might not survive another huge mob of zombies. The room gave him the creeps. Even though he likes plants but these vines around this place looked intimidating.

He walked in to another room. As soon as he entered the next room, his hands flew up to his face and covered his nose. The whole room smelt like sewers and something dead. It was horrible. There were about five or six big water tanks around the room. The vents were all block with vines and dead leaves. The moist in this room made his skin itch. 'Oh, please...what did people do in this place?...' Daniel shook his head. He headed to the other door...but he heard something in the tanks. He made another mistake...he turned back to look. The tanks shook and something jumped out from the water. He didn't scream this time.

A lot of slimy humanoid figures covered in moss hissed and waddled after him. 'Why does this always happen to me?!' Daniel ran out from the room without looking back. _"That proves the 'curiosity kills the cat' phrase..."_ the voice cackled so loud that Daniel thought that he saw the glass doors shook. "I'm **not** a cat...and I'm **not** _dead_" Daniel muttered. **_"...yet."_** the voice hissed back. The hall was too quiet. He stopped and looked back...and saw nothing... Those creatures probably stopped chasing him. "Good riddance..." Another mistake. He said that too soon...

A loud mechanic noise that could be identified as chainsaw, accompanied by heavy footsteps was heard near by. "...That can't be good..." Daniel groaned. The wall behind him collapsed and a heavy build zombie with a huge chainsaw and a crowbar in its hands barged in to the room and did the same thing like other zombies before it...assaulted him. 'Wha-?! How am I going to stop it?' Daniel turned back and ran.

Unfortunately for him, this zombie was faster than Daniel. It waved both the chainsaw and the crowbar wildly while chasing its target. The chainsaw didn't hit Daniel but the crowbar hit him hard at the side. Daniel hit the floor on his side...right on his wounded arm. At the sight of blood on the floor, Daniel thought he was going to faint. The zombie, on the other hand, probably went crazy when it saw blood. It dropped its crowbar and use both hands to hold the chainsaw high and stroke down.

Even though the pain was screaming, Daniel moved aside just in the nick of time before the chainsaw hit the floor. The guide bar of the chainsaw shattered and the zombie went berserk. It let go of the handle and tried to kill Daniel with its bare hands. Daniel got the crowbar and plunged the crowbar right in its forehead. Green blood gushed out its forehead and it dropped on the floor hard. Daniel stood there, shocked. **_"Congratulations, boy. There's your first kill..."_** the voice spoke in a cool tone.

He should be glad that he was still alive. He should be happy that he wasn't brutally killed by this zombie...but he didn't. He felt guilty instead. _I killed a living being. There it was...lying still on the pool of blood._ Something inside told him that he shouldn't have killed it. It confused him... He heard a familiar voice said to him.

_"Daniel...what have you done?"_ that voice was so familiar. Full of disappointment. Full of sadness...then he realized that voice belonged to-

"..._Dad?_" Daniel glanced around the room. Nobody was there. No one but him. The cruel voice laughed. _"Awww, the little pup missed his dad."_ Its laughter filled the room. That was his last straw... **"SHUT UP!"** he yelled. He didn't seem to care that he was loud. The pain in his arm didn't bother him. Anger was taking over. He had it with this crazy voice that followed him everywhere he went and kept mocking him when he was in danger.

The voice faded away. Daniel sighed, trying to calm himself down. He moved on to the next room. There was a zombie standing in the middle of the room. When it saw Daniel, it charged forward. In self-defense, Daniel hit it back with the crowbar. The zombie lost its balance and fell in the water tank in the corner of the room. 'Well, at least I have something to defend myself...' he thought to himself. He was about to leave the room when the zombie jumped out from the tank and groaned loudly.

Both of its arms became longer and slimmer. Fingers melded together, making both arms looked like vines with human muscles. It roared. Daniel became very stiff. The zombie was about to slash him but suddenly he was pulled away in to the other room by a spiky vine. _"Hmph! You lucky bastard..."_ the voice didn't sound so pleased. Daniel remained quiet. _"...Hmmm...I wonder how you taste like?"_ Daniel turned slightly pale. 'What did she mean by that?'. Another vine grasped his ankle and dragged Daniel down the hallway.

Daniel was dragged all the way in to a circular room filled with poisonous flowers and spiky vines. When the vine finally let his ankle go, Daniel stood up...and saw a giant tree in front of him. There were human skulls around the middle part of the trunk with lovely pink flower pods on top of the tree. The vines and the roots were moving around the tree. One of the vines suddenly snatched Daniel and brought him close to the flower. When the pod opened itself, an ugly worm stretched its head out and opened its jaw wide.

With out a second thought, Daniel stabbed the worm right in its face...with no remorse this time. The skulls and the worm roared in pain as the whole tree shook violently and dropped Daniel. As soon as he hit the floor, he ran out through another door. The vines were too slow to stop him. They just blocked the doorway so the next victim wouldn't escape.

Daniel went inside another elevator and closed the door. The elevator went up slowly. Daniel sat at the corner, holding his wounded arm. To his surprised, he noticed that it already stopped bleeding. _Strange... _The bite mark was still there but it wasn't that painful anymore. It was as if...his wounds healed... 'Weird...it can't heal this fast..' he rubbed his eyes and glanced at his arm again. He wasn't hallucinating. His wounds healed.

The elevator stopped and the door slid open to a well-lighted hallway. There was nobody there in the hallway but he doubted that the whole floor was empty. _"Come on then, my sweet... Come and we will meet..." _the voice echoed from the hallway. Fear crept its way back to Daniel as he left the elevator. What kind of horrors awaited for him here?

**_"Just you and me, dear...You and your worst fear..."_**

**Author's notes: This chapter is pretty hard so far...Right now, University is being such a pain in the rear...sick, but I have to study anyway. Again, thanks for all the views...and some 'invisible' reviews...**


	5. Nyctophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (Things that aren't related...point to me.)  
**

Chapter 4

_"Love will not last long._

_Try and prove me wrong._

_Everything that's dear_

_They'll all disappear..."_

Year:1988

"You are crazy. I told you that I wouldn't join your little insane project. I-...NO! You listen to me! What you people are doing is inhumane-...Wha-...LEAVE MY FAMILY OUT OF THIS!" Dr. Curien furiously slammed the phone on the table after a serious talk with someone. "Damn it..." leaned against the chair and sighed heavily. _What were those idiots thinking?! Messing with people's DNA is extremely dangerous..._ He stood up and left his room.

It already passed midnight and the corridor was a bit dark. A gloomy atmosphere. Down the hall, he heard someone coughing. He headed to the hall...and saw his son there with a glass of water. He looked a bit pale than usual. "Daniel?" he sounded worried. His son looked at him with tired eyes. "D-dad?" his voice was dry as if he was sick. The lights in the hall was suddenly cut off followed by a sound of shattered glass was heard. His son was whimpering. In the dim-lighted hall, Dr. Curien cradled his son, comforting him. "Shh...It's alright, Daniel..." his son was still shaking. "I'm right here, Daniel...I'm here." he held his son closer...and he noticed how warm his son was. It worried him.

After he brought his son back to his bedroom, Katherine asked him what happened. 'He's not feeling well, Katherine...' he explained. 'I think he's having fever.' Katherine looked worried. 'Also,' Dr. Curien pointed to the direction of the dark hall, 'we need to fix that light...'

* * *

_"A lonely progeny_

_I'll keep you company_

_With shadow and darkness_

_Welcome all this madness..."_

Year:?

_Nothing in this section. What a relief. _Daniel quietly entered the long corridor, didn't want to attract undead. This was much better than the previous sections. The lights were brighter, the air was much better and there were no zombies around to kill him. What was not good at this moment...he was getting tired.

_"Getting tired, my dear?"_ the voice pretended to feel concern. Daniel continued his way, ignoring the voice. "_Ignoring me again? Don't you learn something from the last time you ignored me?"_ the voice hissed. "Yeah, I learnt something..." Daniel sighed. "You're nothing but trouble...". With that, the voice growled viciously like an animal. "I'm more than that, boy..." it hissed and the lights began to blink rapidly... "Why are you following me?!" Daniel turned to the direction of the voice. His voice shook when the corridor got darker... "What do you want?"

The tone of the voice became sweet...and dangerous. _"...**You**, of course. I wanted to see how good you are...just to make sure that I didn't make a wrong decision on what to do with you."_. "What? Kill me? Why didn't you do it when I was in the parking lot?" Daniel just gazed up in the ceiling ...and saw a shadowy figure that had a shape of a furry beast. He froze. _"...No, dear...not kill you. If I kill you, he'll bring you back..."_.

_Bring me back?! What is she talking about?! 'He'?_ That made Daniel felt glad that he wasn't alone... _Wait...who is this person anyway?...and what does that 'bring me back' supposed to mean?_ Lots of questions poured inside his head like ocean waves. They gave him headache... _"You're a special one, dear...I think you know that. Even your father always think highly about you."_ the voice spoke sarcastically. The lights slowly turned off and Daniel shook in fear. This was different from the corridor where he met those bloody humanoids...it was pitch black here and he couldn't see a thing...or where he was going...

_"Oh, child...this is easy. How hard can it be?"_ the voice laughed. The whole corridor was getting colder as well. Much colder than the Biolabs... Daniel didn't move from his spot. Even though he knew that there was nothing in this corridor, he couldn't help but feel like something was watching. _"In darkness, I see... Come, child...come to me..."_. The strange noise of something scratching the wall was heard. Heavy footsteps were coming to him from the back. The floor seemed to shake at each footstep. It stopped about a few inches behind Daniel. He could hear his own heartbeat accelerate and felt the chilly air hit his back. Something was breathing behind his back...

When he turned around...he saw a pair of glowing golden eyes with bloody red pupils staring at him. The smell of blood filled the air, making him felt a bit dizzy. The monster growled...and it got louder as if it was about to roar. He panicked...and ran blindly in the darkness. The monster roared and stormed its way to him. He kept running...and running...but he didn't know where he was going... He could hear the monster behind him and it was getting closer. Then...he hit the wall hard. He moved his hands around and found out that he was at the end of the corridor. He was trapped.

_"That's 'dead end' for you, boy!"_ the voice laughed menacingly. The glowing eyes came closer, accompanied by heavy footsteps that shook the floor. Daniel pressed himself at the corner. "I-I thought that you're not going to kill me." he stuttered. The voice snickered at his words. _"Of course, I'm not going to kill you."_ It paused. _"...I'm going to eat you."_ Even though the voice sounded frightening, Daniel found her statement weird.

"That's the same thing as killing." he muttered. _"There's a difference."_ the voice spoke, sounded a bit frustrated. _"If I kill you, you'll come back. If I eat you, you'll stay dead."_. The sound of something sharp scratched the floor. It sounded like claws of an animal slashing against the tiled floor. _"Let me put it this way. You will not be lying around for anybody to mourn..."_ the eyes glowered dangerously at Daniel. _"...or for him to bring you back...". _With that, the monster banged Daniel into the wall and bit his shoulder.

Daniel screamed as the monster sank its sharp fangs deeper in to his shoulder. He could felt the blood trailed its way down his arm. He tried to push it away but the monster seized his arms and pressed them at the wall. There was nothing he could do. He knew that death would come to get him soon. He was going to lose his conscious... **_"Daniel..."_**

He heard a faint voice calling him but he didn't have the strength to answer. The monster was drinking his blood greedily like a leech. **_"Daniel..."_ **a soothing voice called to him. Suddenly, the monster released him and roared in pain. The woman's voice screeched and yelled in fury. _**"CURSE YOU, CHILD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"** _The monster and the woman's voice seemed to disappear in an instant, leaving Daniel on the ground bleeding to death..._**"Get up, Daniel..."** _this voice was distant and calm...but he couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman's voice. It sounded strange like..._electronic voice_. _**"Get up...you're almost** **here...".**_'Here?' Daniel frowned. As if it heard him saying it out loud, the calm voice whispered. **_"Here...where it is safe."_**

"Nowhere is safe..." Daniel winced. He couldn't move. If he even stirred, he would feel the stinging pain in his shoulder. **_"...You'll be safe with me..."_** the calm voice reassured him. Daniel wasn't so convinced. "I've been moving around this place and I found nothing but things that wanted to kill me." There was a long silence. **_"I don't want to kill you..."_** the calm voice spoke up. The place started to get warmer and the lights came back slowly, showing a tint of light blue. At the sight of lights, Daniel felt better. **_"Were you scared?"_** the calm voice asked with concern. Daniel didn't answer. **_"Don't worry...you'll no longer be scared once you're here with me..."_**

Daniel sighed heavily. He was so confused. There were voices in this place. One wanted him dead while the other wanted to help? What's going on around this...wait. Is this the person that the woman was referring to? "Why are you helping me?" he asked. It didn't answer him. _**"There's a ladder nearby... It'll bring you to the next floor. I'll see you there..."**_The voice went silent afterwards. 'I'm getting nowhere...' Daniel stood up slowly. Then he noticed something strange. He felt his shoulder and realized that it stopped bleeding, only the numbness remained. The wound was smaller than before and it wasn't painful anymore. This was similar to the wound on his arm. 'It can't be...'

He walked out from the dead end and went the other way through the corridor. The cruel woman's voice remained silent. He liked it. Then he saw the ladder, just as the calm voice told him. He climbed up and found himself in the passage with lots of giant glass tubes that were placed beside the path. As he waked passed each tubes, he saw bony looking humanoids inside them. They looked frightening. He hurried his pace and went through different rooms and then... at the end of the path, he saw an opened door with lights coming out. He walked slowly and glanced inside-

**"GOTCHA!"** somebody exclaimed and hit Daniel hard on the head. Daniel was knocked unconscious.

"What the-?! It's the kid from the Priority Alpha Section...How the hell did he get here?!"

**Author's notes:This is a crazy chapter with another 'cliffhanger'. I have my own reason...The next chapter is going to torture me...painfully. If I offended anyone, I'd like to say sorry.**


	6. Social Phobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (Those that aren't related, they're mine...)  
**

**Warning: This is a WAY TOO LONG chapter...**

Chapter 5

_"Life...you're so fragile._

_I gave you a smile._

_I grasp your weak heart_

_...and tear it apart..."_

Year:1989

Dr. Curien was getting anxious. His son was sick for months. MONTHS. This wasn't normal. The doctors that he called weren't helping either. 'They don't deserved to be called 'doctors' if they can't help their patient...' he sighed. He highly doubted that it was just fever that made his son sick...This was making him stress. 'He'll be fine...' he mumbled to himself. He went back to his room to his wife but...she wasn't there. "What the...?" he glanced at his watch. It was almost noon. His wife went out early in the morning to the pharmacy down town and told him that she would be back two hours before noon. She was always on time. Something was wrong... He headed outside and drove to town...

* * *

"Whispers are calling...

Danger is coming...

The truth hurts like hell

Nothing will end well..."

Year: ?

"Terrance! Did you just hit that kid?" Sarah shrieked. Stephen went to the Terrance and pulled the pipe away from his hand. "Give me that thing before you kill somebody." Terrance was stiff in his place, possibly from shock. "I-I just...I-I thought...I thought he was one of those things." he pointed to Daniel. Both Stephen and Sarah sighed. "Next time, look before you hit something. Alright, Terrance?" Stephen nudged Terrance at his side. "Hey, guys. We have to bring this kid in." Sarah called the guys and carried Daniel inside the room. "The guys inside will go wild if they see him." Terrance muttered. "I mean...look at him. He has wounds all over him and his clothes have bloodstains. They'll think that we brought a dead creature in." "I doubt that." Stephen cut him off. "Those things are pale. He's not that pale."

Terrance closed the door behind him and followed the blonds in to the room. There were several people in the room sitting at different corner and they all looked tired. When they saw the trio entered the room with somebody, they stopped at what they were doing. At the sight of blood in their vision, one by one, they started to panic. "Hey! You can't bring that thing in here!" "Oh no!" "What are you guys doing?!" " OMG!" "Get it out of here!" "What the heck is that?!" "Holy -"

**"QUIET!"**

A huge security guard in blue uniform bellowed and banged the wall with his black baton. Everybody went silent. It became too quiet that everyone could hear the sound of engines humming behind the walls. "Will you chickens stopped screaming at the sight of everything that is red?!" he scowled at them. Everybody fervently nodded. "Good." he huffed. "Now...can any of you 'geniuses' tell me who or what is that you are carrying?" he point at the trio with his baton. "Well, this is the kid that I told you about. He was 'looking' inside this area and Terrance hit him hard in the head." Stephen gestured to Terrance who was shaking behind Sarah. "It was an accident..." Terrance muttered.

The guard glared at Terrance. Stephen removed his lab coat and put it down at the corner of the room. "Sarah, put him down here." Sarah nodded and put Daniel down. "Must be crazy down there...poor kid." said Sarah while taking out her handkerchief and wiped the blood off Daniel's face. "He must have gone through hell. Look at these scratches and...bite marks?" Stephen peered closer at the boy's shoulder and arm. "What the he-"

"By the way, has anyone see Allan? I told him to bring the fist aid kit to the 'detention' room half an hour ago. Bob banged his head on the table again." the guard asked. Everybody shook their heads. "Oh, damn! Where the heck is he?" the guard sighed. "Oh...and I need some one in there to help Carl move the table away from Bob." the guard pointed to the other door. Two people stood up and went inside the room.

...(A few hours later)...

Daniel moaned softly as he sat up. The whole world was spinning around slowly and his head hurts. "Oh, you're up." A man in grayish blue jacket and dark brown jeans came and sat down beside him. "I was about to go and kick Terrance right in his nuts for knocking you hard." he sat down beside Daniel. "On second thought, I shouldn't blame him though...it was his first time to guard the door...and he's a 'jumpy' type. There's only one rule about this guy...don't touch him."

Daniel stared at the man blankly and then glanced around the room. There were a few people in white lab coat and white uniform around the corner, talking quietly to each other. Everybody looked so tense, especially to guard who was watching the entrance. People. _PEOPLE! I'm not alone here!_ ...but he was still in this same building filled with those flesh-eating creatures. At least...he wasn't alone anymore.

"Who...who are you?" Daniel decided talk after a brief silence. "Geez, where were my manners?" the man looked embarrassed. "Allan J. Miller. You can just call me Allan." he extended his hand at Daniel. Daniel couldn't remember when was the last time he shake hands with someone. He shook Allan's hand...and noticed that the wound on his own arm was completely gone. "N-nice to meet you." Daniel stuttered, still feeling a bit dizzy. "Same here. So what's your name, kiddo?" Allan asked. Daniel was about to reply when-

"He's Dr. Curien's little brat!" a male researcher hissed when he heard Allan's question. Allan stared at him. "Anthony! What on earth was that for?! He's just a kid." "He's nothing but a heap of trouble! A freaking trouble!" another researcher cut him off. "Lance!...What-what on earth is wrong with you people?!" Allan turned around and faced those researchers. Sarah, Stephen and Terrance were looking at Allan but they kept quiet. "It's obvious here! When that four-eyed monster brought that brat of his here, lots of stuff happened and he kept beating the crap out of everyone. Heh! Then he started to go crazy and brought these dead freaks here, yammering about stuff that will change the future. That _freak_ did all of this because of that brat!"

_Monster? Freak?!_ Anger flared up in Daniel's eyes...but at the same time, he was confused. Why were they mad about his father? All he knew was that his father is a good person. How _DARE_ they called his father a _monster?!_ **"Stop it! All of you!"** from the tone of her voice, everyone could tell that Sarah had heard enough. Stephen also looked like he was about to explode. "Can't you people just give him a break? He went through hell down there and you kept hammering his head with all of that $&|^!" Terrance looked at Sarah with his mouth opened. 'Oh God...did she just swear?' he thought. "You're also hit by this and you sided with him?!" Anthony spat.

"Enough! Why can't you just look at this from his perspective?! He was in coma when he was brought here! He didn't know what happened!" Stephen blurted out. _Coma?_ Why did his father brought him here if he was in coma? Shouldn't he send his son to the hospital? Daniel was completely confused. "Well sooner or later...wait. You 'over-protective' jerks can tell him what happened to his insane father now!" Lance scoffed. Daniel had it. "My father is **not** insane!" "Well, he was, you son of a-OW!" the guard hit Anthony with his baton, shutting him up. Everybody stopped talking when they saw the guard. "I went inside the 'detention' room to gagged Bob's mouth and I came out to see you morons bickering loudly to each other. Do I have to remind you chickens that we're still here in this Hell Hole?! We need to work together to find the way out of here alive, not whining like a bunch of grandmas!". Nobody spoke anything afterwards.

A few hours later, Daniel was still sitting in his corner, trying to stay calm after watching Allan and Sarah argued with Anthony. Those guys called his father a _monster_... Daniel was furious. How could they say such things about his father? While he was pondering, Allan sat beside Daniel again. ...Daniel needed answers..."Allan?" "Hmm?" "...What happened here? How did you guys end up here?" Daniel kept his voice low so those people couldn't hear him. Allan winced a bit. "I really don't know what exactly happened. I came here to visit my wife. Everything was alright until...the alarm rang and the security guards told us to leave. Everybody panicked. Those 'things' came out of nowhere and kill everyone on sight. They blocked the way out... Thanks to Robert, he led the rest of us up here...the only place in this facility that is safe." "Robert?" Allan pointed to the guard. "That's him. The big tough security guard…he was the only one left. His friends were either got eaten or got shredded to pieces…"

"What were they doing here?" Daniel asked. Allan simply shrugged. "My wife didn't say much about it. She only said that they were here to research about something that Dr. Curien was working on…" Daniel sank his head on his hands and sighed. Allan seemed to notice that. "...but mostly... they're here to help you recover." Daniel looked surprised. "...help me?" Allan nodded. "You heard Stephen, right? Dr. Curien brought you here and asked them to help you. My wife said that they almost lost you many times and Dr. Curien was furious." 'So, that's how I came here.' Daniel thought. '...but why here?'.

"Allan?...Is my father here?" Daniel wanted to ask that question before the arguing happened. Allan furrowed and looked away from him. "He's..._not here_." that was his answer. "Where is he? What happened to him? I want to know why everyone..._hate_ him so much?" he almost cried when he ask. Allan didn't answer. He looked at Stephen and Sarah with pleading expression as if he was asking for their help. "Allan, what happened to him?" Daniel was getting agitated. When Stephen and Sarah saw the situation, they came in and sat beside them. "What happened to my father?" he was demanding for an answer. Allan was getting nervous...

"Just tell him, Allan. He has to know." Sarah spoke up. "But...he's still a kid..." "He has to know what really happened, Allan..." ...Allan shook his head. "I can't..." he turned away, not facing the disappointed boy. "Fine...I'll tell him myself." Stephen faced Daniel. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes when he spoke to Daniel...

"Kid..._your father **died** two years ago_..."

The whole room was deadly silent as if there was no one there. Daniel was very stiff as if he stopped breathing...for a moment. "..._what?_" he croaked. Allan stood up and left, didn't want to hear the rest. Sarah sighed quietly as Stephen continued...

"You were sick, kid. So bad that the doctors said you won't recover. Your father didn't want that so he brought you here. You were placed in the 'Priority Alpha' Section...that was where your father brought most of us in. He worked on something else too, claiming that it'll 'change the future'...I don't really know. But after that, he began to visit you less often...and every time he visited you...he was different. A few years later, we heard the incident in Curien mansion that most of the researchers were killed...including your father."

"At first we decided to get you out of the Priority Alpha...but our CEO insisted that we should continue helping you. It was your father's wish after all... and we did it. But now, we're stuck here with these monsters and the remaining researchers blamed your father for them...these corpses were apart of that he was secretly working on...the one that he claimed to change the future...that's why they called him insane..." _...No...No...NO!_ Daniel shook his head. _This can't be true... _"What...what is this year?" he asked softly...through the sound of sniveling. "It's 2000 now, kid. You were brought here on 1994." Sarah answered, her eyes filled with sympathy when Daniel buried his face in his hands and let out a soft cry.

The last thing he remembered was talking to his father...and he was so scared. Then, everything went black...quiet...and hard to breathe... The next thing he knew, he woke up to this forsaken place and learnt that his father was dead..._He'll never see him again_..."Sorry, kid...but that really happened..." That was all Stephen could say. He wasn't a good at comforting other people, Daniel could tell. Sarah tugged Stephen's shirt. "Let's go, Stephen...just...give him some time..." Before they stood up, Sarah left an old brown notebook beside Daniel and left with Stephen.

'If this is a nightmare...' Daniel thought '...I want to wake up...'. The cruel woman's voice was faintly heard...laughing at him like she always did...

**_"I told you, my dear child...He's not here..."_**

* * *

Year: 1989

...There were lots of people around the pharmacy, looking at something. There were police officers as well. Authorities weren't always a pleasant sight for him. "What happened?" he heard someone asked the police. "There was a madman who barged in to the pharmacy and started shooting everything." the police explained to the civilian. "Most of the civilians inside weren't injured...but the madman didn't stop there. He tried to get the locket from a woman but she fought back..." _Locket?_ Dr. Curien froze. The policeman shrugged. "We got a call and tried to get here as fast as we could but by the time we got here..." he pointed at the body on the ground... "...She was...shot."

That was when he saw her...lying on the ground in the pool of blood... Dr. Curien dropped on his knees with tears ran down his face.

"..._No_..."

* * *

"Dearest, you're now dead

...and I am afraid...

To be all alone...

...in this empty zone..."

**Author's notes: ...Ok, my other attempt to make a sad atmosphere...and I lack (a lot of) vocabularies... It's way long...and I'll spoil to you that the next chapter is going to be about this long...or longer...well, I have to stick with the plan...[Dang it, Grammar! I loathe you...so much it hurts. Oh, well, more practice for me...]**

**Thanks for the views and the reviews again.**


	7. Agliophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (...Do I have to state the obvious in every chapter?)**

**Important Note: I have nothing against a guy called "Anthony", alright? [...including others whose names were mention...no offense or bad intention...] This is a fiction story after all.  
**

Chapter 6

_"Don't do this to me..._

_Please just let us be_

_I've no sins to pay_

_Don't take him away..."_

Year:1989 [2 days after the town incident...]

Dr. Curien came back early from work. Everything was different. The main hall was deadly silent, there was no woman sitting at the sofa, waiting for him to come back...nobody came running from the hallway to greet him...nothing. _Empty_. He walked up the stairs to see his son... "Daniel." he called. _Silence_. "Daniel, I'm back." Still silence. His son always answered him when he called... 'This can't be good...' Dr. Curien entered his son's room...his heart almost stopped beating when he saw his pale son curled up on the floor choking out blood. "Oh God..." He rushed to his son and held him up. His body was warm a few days ago...now he was almost as cold as a dead body. For the first time ever, Dr. Curien didn't know what to do. "Daniel! Daniel, stay with me!" he cried. The memory of his dead wife lying on the cold ground came back to haunt him again. This time, it was his son... "D..dad..." his son weakly held his father. "...dad..." his hand slipped away and he lost conscious in his father's arms. It looked almost like he stopped breathing.

**_"DANIEL!"_**

* * *

"Dear child, stop mourning...

It'll do you nothing...

Heart fills with sorrow

Death will soon follow..."

Year: 2000

Stephen and Sarah found Allan sitting in the hallway. "Allan, you're supposed to be inside the room. Robert will kill you if he found out that you're here." said Sarah. "Allan..." Stephen spoke up. Allan didn't even look at them. He tried again "Allan, you know that you're not supposed to be out here and -" "They're _**jerks**_." Allan blurted out. Sarah and Stephen were speechless. "He's just a boy...they say it as if this whole thing is his fault. He didn't even ask for any of this to happen." "We didn't ask for it either." Stephen replied. "Nobody asked for it...but it already happened." Sarah nodded. "We'll talk about this later. We need to head back inside." The three of them went back inside the room quietly.

"Hey, what time is it? I'm starving." Terrance asked the three when they entered. Allan took a quick glance at his wristwatch and shrugged. "Six o four...just in time for some dull breakfast..." Stephen and Sarah looked at each other and sighed almost at the same time. They nudged Allan's side. "Allan, it's our turn to go down to the 'harvest' room..." Stephen pointed to the hallway. "Looks like we're going out...again." Sarah groaned. "Uh, guys?" Terrance got their attention. He pointed to Daniel at the far corner of the room. "What about him? Do you want to bring him down with you guys?" Stephen shook his head. "No, just leave him there. You just keep an eye on him, alright?" "Sure." Terrance replied with an awkward smile. "And Terrance... don't hit him with the pipe again..." Sarah winked at Terrance who blushed at the sight of her eyes. "It won't happen again..." he waved at her.

Daniel was still sulking at the corner, ignoring all those eyes staring at him. 'Oh, stop crying like an idiot already! You're embarrassing yourself.' he told himself. 'This isn't 1990 anymore...stuck here in this place that gives nothing but pain and-' ...pain... He looked at his arm again. The wound was gone. He wasn't hallucinating. But such wounds weren't supposed to heal THAT fast... 'This can't be right...' he was grateful that it was gone but this didn't feel right for him. The bite mark on his shoulder was still there though but it wasn't painful anymore. 'This isn't normal...'

"Alright, I'm back." said Sarah as she entered the room with a basket full of potatoes. Terrance groaned. "Potatoes again? Where are Stephen and Allan?" "They're still in the 'harvest' room, checking whether the fruits are safe to eat." Sarah answered. She distributed the potatoes to other researchers and scientists in the room. She stopped at Daniel. "Here. You should have something while waiting for the fruits..." she handed him a small bag. "...thank you." he murmured. He wasn't hungry at all...and he found that weird. He had been running away from those monsters and he should be starving or something...

Sarah gave the biggest potato to Robert. "How's Bob? Is he still alright?" she asked with concern. Robert rolled his eyes. "He's getting crazier everyday..." the security guard observed the survivors in the room while munching the potato. "Where are those two that went down with you?" "Oh, still in the room. I'll go and check whether they have any problems or not." Sarah turned around and left the room. Robert seemed to panic when Sarah left the room without an escort so he followed her out.

"Hey, you little brat!" the guy named Anthony called to Daniel. Terrance was stiff in his place, didn't know what to do and didn't want to have any trouble with Anthony. "My name is not 'little brat'! It's Daniel..." Daniel returned the answer with a scowl. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Anthony blurted out and threw a bag of potatoes at Daniel. "Make yourself useful around here. Go in that room and give that to Carl and Bob." Lance laughed. "Please, Anthony...I doubt that he'll even move his legs to do what you asked him to do. He lived in a mansion with his 'dear old daddy' with butlers around. He won't even know how to handle a bag." other researchers snickered quietly. Terrance turned pale.

"You're sending him in that 'detention' room alone without Robert?! But he'll be de-" "Who asked you to talk, Terrance? Just stand there and watch the door. Let this kid do something useful for once!" Anthony shouted back at the stunned researcher. He turned to Daniel and winced. "Well? What are you waiting for? Waiting for your daddy to come up from the grave and do it for you?!" Daniel stood up with the bag in his hand and rushed through the door... Terrance looked like he was going to scream...but he kept his mouth shut when he saw Lance's gaze. "Shut it." Lance hissed. Terrance forced himself to look away. 'Hurry up, you guys.' Terrance looked at the quiet hallway. 'Daniel's in _BIG_ trouble.'

_How dare they? HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT TO ME AND MY FATHER?!_ Daniel slammed the door close behind him. He was mad...and_scared_. Anger rarely happened before...now it was getting more frequent when he stayed with those researchers. He really wanted to scream...but he didn't. "Hey, what are you doing here? Where's Robert?" the researcher looked startled to see Daniel in the room. There was another guy who was tied to a chair in the middle of the small room. "I...I just bring you this ba-" "Yeah, that's nice of you." the researcher snatched the bag out of Daniel's hands. "Now leave this room." The researcher looked pretty scared himself but Daniel didn't know what caused the fear.

"Okay, Bob. Stuff to eat here so don't bite me, alright?" the researcher removed the tape from the guy's mouth. _So, this person is 'Carl'_...Daniel looked at those two people with confusion. "What happened to him?" Daniel asked Carl. He looked at Daniel with shock. "Didn't you hear what I said? Get out of here." he pushed Daniel to the door. He didn't push Daniel that hard...but when Carl saw the bite mark on Daniel's shoulder, he panicked. "Oh my God..." he gasped. "You're...you're one of them!" Unnoticed by both Daniel and Carl, Bob lashed forward and hit Carl hard against the wall, knocking Carl unconscious. Somehow, he was able to untie himself off the chair and ran to the door. He didn't escaped though...simply locked the door and...gazed at Daniel manically. Daniel froze... now trapped in this room with this 'Bob'.

He cackled menacingly and circled Daniel...slowly. "_She_ said that you'll be here...and _she's_ right." "_She?_" Daniel took a step back...but the crazed man followed him. "Hehe...Don't play stupid, _Daniel_. She's been talking to you like she did to me..." _That woman's voice...he heard her too?! _"So she bit you..." he pointed at Daniel's shoulder and smiled wickedly. "I got bitten too...you and me, kid...we're doomed to die. **DIE!**" He slammed the chair down on the floor, broke it in to pieces. Daniel backed away...until he was cornered. 'Not again...' Daniel got scared...and he felt much worse when Bob grabbed his neck and raised him up...trying to choke him to death. "_L-Let g-go!_" Daniel gasped. This guy was stronger than he thought...for a scrawny guy.

"Soon, we're ALL going to die! You, me and everybody will die painfully. Why do we have to wait for her to come and kill us all when we can do it ourselves?! There's only one way out of here, Daniel...DIE!" He threw Daniel down on the floor. Daniel didn't have a chance to get up when Bob pulled him up. "SOMEBODY HE-" Daniel screamed but Bob muffled his mouth. "No one can help you, Daniel...No one... **NO ONE WILL EVER HELP YOU!**" Bob growled...almost like an animal. He strangled Daniel. "..._kill him._" the voice whispered in the air... "Send my regards to your _father_, boy!" He cackled.

The door swung open. Robert charged inside the room and pulled Bob away from Daniel. "Who the hell let this maniac go?!" he yelled in rage as he pinned Bob down on the floor. Daniel gasped for air and tried to stand up...but he couldn't. Sarah, Stephen and Allan ran in the room and were shock. "Daniel?..." Sarah gasped. "Why is he here with Bob and...Oh my gosh! Carl!" Sarah ran to Carl and checked him. Stephen looked at Allan and then glanced at Terrance outside. "I told him to watch that kid..." Stephen walked out of the room and walked straight to Terrance to have a few strong words with him. Allan helped Daniel up on his feet. "What were you doing here?" Allan asked with concern.

"**SHE'S COMING, DANIEL!**" Bob yelled. "**SHE'S COMING TO GET ALL OF US!...AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF _YOU!_**"

"Oh, shut up, you lunatic!" Robert whacked Bob's head with his baton, knocking him out for good. Carl finally regained conscious and with the help of Sarah, he stood on his feet. "Bob...Bob pushed me. I don't know how he got out of those bonds but I swear... I didn't let him go..." he explained when he got the dreadful gaze from Robert. "Why the hell did you get in here?" that question was from Robert to Daniel. "Anthony told him to get in here to give the bag to them." Terrance barged in to the room with Stephen. "...and you didn't stop him?!" Sarah frowned when she heard Terrance's explanation. Terrance faced downward...feeling guilty. Robert's face turned red. "After all of this chaos is over...I'm so going to snap their necks and use their damn skulls to make a new baton!" he stormed out of the room to those researchers.

"...I think Robert is much scarier than Bob..." Terrance muttered when silence filled the 'detention' room. "I mean...'snap their necks' and 'use their skulls'?...that's brutal..." Sarah sighed at Terrance's words. "He's more frightening." Carl spoke and pointed at Daniel...which surprised everyone. "His shoulder...the bite mark. It's the same mark that was on Bob's shoulder. He'll go crazy like Bob!" "That's why it was so familiar..." Sarah muttered to herself. Daniel winced. "What's with the bite?" he asked. They stared at one another...then it was Allan who answered it. "Bob was bitten by something. A few days later, he went crazy. He kept saying something about a woman in the walls and a bunch of crazy stuff. He became violent after wards." "That's why Robert put him here in this 'detention' room. At first it was called a 'solitary' room but Terrance prefer to call it 'detention'." Stephen nudged Terrance's side. Terrance simply shrugged "_Solitary_ sounds spooky so I prefer the term _detention_...to keep dangerous people or those who are out of control in."

"But...but I'm not..._dangerous_...am I?" Daniel glanced at everyone, unsure what will happen. "...maybe soon." Stephen exchanged glances with Sarah. "...but we're not sure." Sarah shook her head. Allan was worried. "Daniel, you don't hear any 'whispers'...do you?" ...'Of course I hear it...' Daniel thought...but he didn't want to be locked up with this Bob. Everyone looked at him with suspicion...waiting for his answer. "...I hear them." Daniel finally answered. He never lied. Terrance's jaw dropped open. "Uh-oh.". Robert walked inside with a broken baton in his hand. "Problem solved. Anthony won't be saying anything for the next 2 weeks." He threw the baton away and he noticed that everyone was looking at Daniel. "What's going on?" "The kid had the bite mark like Bob." Carl pointed at Daniel before anyone could say anything. The security guard then frowned "Well, sorry kid..." he paused "...you're staying here."

"No!" Allan stood in front of Daniel. "He's not staying in here!" Sarah, Stephen, Terrance and Carl were shock. Robert glared at Allan. "This is for everybody's safety, Allan. He's staying here." he pulled out a chain from his pocket. "Where did he get that?" Allan heard Terrance asked but he ignored him. "He's not going to stay in here with that goddamn £#*~^&!" Allan didn't move away when the huge security guard moved towards him. "I'm in charge here, Allan. Move!" "I won't." "Last warning, Allan!" "...and I said...that he won't stay in here with that £#*~^&!" "..." "..."

The tension in the room was probably too much for Terrance to handle...he fainted. Everyone (except Daniel) just looked at Terrance with bored expression...then back at one another. "I'm telling you, Robert, he's not staying here. You saw what Bob tried to do to him and you still wanted to put him here?" Allan didn't budge. Robert stared at Allan for a brief moment then he pointed at Daniel. "If he did something wrong...anything suspicious at all...and if anyone get hurt because of him...I'll get you hard, Allan." Robert glowered at Allan menacingly before he backed away and tied Bob to the post with the chain. "Well? Get out already! All of you. Or do you want to stay here when this psycho wakes up?" Robert pointed at Terrance "...and take him out with you. Let someone else watch the entrance."

When they left the room, Carl tried to revive Terrance. Sarah and Stephen stood beside the entrance but always glanced back to check Daniel and Allan. Daniel didn't want to look at the other corner of the room. He knew that he would see those angry stare from other researchers, especially from Anthony. "You're not dangerous, Daniel. You're just scared." Allan spoke up suddenly. "Unlike Bob, I think he got so scared to the point of insanity." he let out a sigh. He saw that Sarah and Stephen never let their eyes off Daniel and him. He just gave them a sign 'He's still ok.' "Thanks for helping me back there." Daniel muttered. Allan shook his head "Nah. Don't mention it. I don't want anyone to stay close to that crazy guy anyway."

Time went slowly for everybody there. Other researchers still talked among themselves on how to get out of this facility. Sarah and Stephen took a break and helped Carl calm Terrance down. Allan seemed to realized something... "Hey, Daniel. I've been thinking. Since you're also stuck in here with us, I should tour you around this area." He stood up and extended his hand at Daniel. "...just in case Robert assigned you to go to the 'harvest' room. So you'll know where it is." "'Harvest' room?" Daniel frowned. "The only place where we get those." Allan pointed to the bag filled with potatoes and other fruits. Daniel was hesitant. "Don't worry, it won't take long. Just a stroll down the hallway. There are no creatures up here." Allan explained.

'No creatures up here...but she's here...' Daniel thought. 'What if she...never mind...' He stood up slowly and followed Allan down the hallway. "We'll be back here soon." Allan reassured Daniel that everything would be alright...

**_"Yeeesss...you'll be back here, child..."_** the voice whispered in cold tune.

* * *

Year: 1990

"Despair, that's my name

Things won't be the same

All gone, one by one

Goodbye, my dear son..."

He couldn't eat, couldn't sleep and couldn't stop thinking how to help his son to get better. He was killing himself slowly but he didn't care. His son was all he had left. If he's gone...then he'll shoot the bullet in his head. He was feeling desperate...very desperate. "Dad...?" a faint voice called him. Dr. Curien sat down at his son's bedside and held his cold hand. "...I'm here, Daniel." he leaned forward to his son. His son's complexion was nearly white and he could barely move. "...dad?...am I going to die?" That question caught him off guard. He never ever wanted to answer that question...but his son needed an answer.

"No, Daniel...You're not going to die." he lied. "You're...you're just sick...but you'll be better soon, I promised." "But...I don't..." his son tried to talk but he was too weak to respond. "Shh...just rest, Daniel. Everything will be alright." he lied...again. Knowing his son's condition was deteriorating everyday was making him feel helpless. No matter what he did, he only slows the deterioration down and his son still suffered. All he could do...was to watch him die slowly...

**Author's notes: Oy, this is WAY too long. One sentence one idea...what a mistake...Well, a few more chapters won't kill anyone, I hope. A small spoiler for those who read this note...we'll have a special guest coming soon...THERE! I spoiled everything...XP Anyone ever had these types of phobias?  
**

**Thanks for the views and invisible reviews...**


	8. Bdellophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (I doubt that anyone read this part anymore...)**

Chapter 7

_"There's no hope for me_

_No light I can see_

_Then 'he' reaches his hand_

_...and help me to stand..."_

Year:1990

This rarely happened. His employer called him in to his office when he noticed that Dr. Curien was getting low these passing months. He stood beside Dr. Curien, listening to him and trying to comfort him while the doctor was having an emotional breakdown. "...He's dying, Caleb...slowly...I did everything I could to help him but he didn't recover..." Dr. Curien sobbed. (His employer preferred Dr. Curien to call him by his first name since he claimed to be the 'friend of all human beings'...) "He's all I have left...he's all Katherine left for me...I couldn't do anything..."

"That...is where you are _wrong_, my friend." said his employer. "You haven't tried _everything_." He sat down on his chair behind his desk, looked calmly at his 'friend in need'. "There are other ways that I..._we_ can help your son." That caught Dr. Curien's attention. "Is...is there another way?" he asked. He would accept any kind of help now for the sake of his son. Goldman grinned. "Yes." he pulled a black folder out from the drawer and gave it to Dr. Curien. "You're not the only one who tries to save someone they love, friend. There's a...warden in Louisiana who had a lab underneath his prison. He tried to help his _crazy_ mother. I went there with my other associate to see what he was working on. It was marvelous. I believe what he was working on can help your son as well..."

"It can?" Dr. Curien asked. Hope was coming back to him. There was a way to help his son after all... "I can bring you there so you can have a look at it yourself..." Goldman leaned forward. "Tell me, Roy..." he lowered his voice.

"Have you ever heard of '**_Formula X_**'?"

* * *

_"Come here to this place_

_Dark place full of grace_

_I am waiting for you_

_You will see me too..."_

Year: 2000

Robert came out and slammed the door closed in frustration. "I really wish that Bob have amnesia or something after I knocked him with my baton. He wouldn't shut up about the 'woman in the wall' nonsense." "Seriously, I wish that he's dead." Lance murmured. Sarah glared at him. "Careful what you wish for, Lance. It might come back to hurt you." "Mind your own business, woman! No one ask for your-" he stopped talking when he heard Robert cleared his throat. "...oh, crud." Lance sighed...and took a glance at Anthony who was having a very hard time trying to sit down after Robert hit him hard right in the nuts. Everyone could tell that it was painful as hell because Robert's baton broke in two when he hit Anthony. 'That really shut him up...' Lance winced.

"He's okay, Terrance. Calm down. No one's going to die." Stephen tried to calm Terrance down. It didn't work. "...I just...want to get out of here." Terrance shook in fear. "Everyone here is slowly going crazy. All of you see it. Look at Bob. He's gone mad...There are dead things walking around and killing stuff. I want to go home." he sobbed. It was hard trying to calm down the youngest researcher when he got scared. At least he didn't go crazy. Sarah held Terrance. "Shh, Terrance. We're still here. Alright? We'll...We'll find a way out." she talked to him. "You said that two days ago...and a few days after that...and after that. We're still here. We're getting nowhere." Terrance sniveled. Stephen groaned. Terrance was right. 'We're stuck.' Stephen was feeling hopeless as well. All communication lines were cut off and they couldn't contact anybody outside. They stuck here for almost a month now...and surprised to see a boy found his way up here to them. But that didn't make any difference. They were still here.

"We're doomed...Maybe Bob was right...we're doomed." Terrance cried. Stephen looked at Terrance. "Terrance, calm down...or Robert will think that you're going crazy like Bob and he might put you there with him." Terrance stopped crying. Sarah smiled. "Very good, Terrance." "Hey, where's that kid and Allan?" Robert looked around. Carl pointed to the entrance. "I saw them went out. I think Allan wanted to show the kid around the place." "They left without telling me?!" Robert boomed. Everyone held their breath. 'Allan's so in big trouble now...' Terrance looked like he was going to faint again. "That Allan...never follows my orders..." Robert grumbled. He walked towards the door. "If I come back and one of is missing, I'm going to do the same thing I did to Anthony to all of you!" "Including the kid? Awesome..." Lance smiled mischievously. "You're a troublesome idiot." Stephen hissed. Robert sighed and walked out when- *SPLAT!*

"What the hell?" Robert peered down on the floor. He stepped on something squishy. He realized that he stepped on an oversized leech. It went splat with red blood. He saw these things before. There were LOTS of them when the creatures broke out from their chambers. They were in the all over the place down below. He looked up and saw a hole in the tubes. That could mean only one thing. He ran back to the room. "We got unwelcome pests coming on our way!" he bellowed. Everyone spooked out. "Get something and armed yourselves! Knife, scalpel...anything! Fast! Move it people!" Everybody ran around and looked for something that they could use. Terrance was still shaking at the corner. "What's going on?" he asked. Robert brought his chain out. "Stay away from the door...and keep your eyes on both ceiling and the door! They're coming." "What's coming?" Sarah held her pipe tightly, ready to hit anything that comes through the door. "Remember those little blood-suckers down in the DBR Institute?" Robert asked...everyone nodded. "Well...they found a way up here through the tubes and the ceiling..." he gestured to the ceiling.

**"We're going to die! We're going to DIE! HA-HA! PAINFULLY! HA-HA!"** Bob was screaming his head off in the detention room. Robert groaned. "I swear...if he kept screaming like that tonight, I'm going to use his damn body to cover the hole in that goddamn tube!" Everybody glanced at one another. There were sounds of scratches and something slithering through the entrance door. They came closer. Carl looked at Robert. "Wait. What about Allan and that kid?" Robert shook his head. "They're on their own..." A few seconds later, slimy-looking leeches with large body and teeth slithered their way in to the room at an alarming speed.**"Incoming!"** Robert yelled.

_-Somewhere else on the same floor-..._

"Wow..." Daniel looked around the room. A very big and long room that almost looked like a giant greenhouse. There were all sorts of flowers and plants all over the place. At one side, all of the vegetation and fruits grew. "Are all of them safe to eat? I...remember that there was a floor down there where the trees and-" "Oh, don't worry. There're safe to eat." Allan shrugged like it was nothing. "Those smart scientists who stayed here managed to...well...remove those harmful things off these plants. Don't worry, we won't turned in to those walking corpses." Allan led Daniel out of the room and went to the other way.

"This is a very important room that I'm about to show you, Daniel. Robert never sent anyone here alone." Allan opened the door. There was a bridge over the green water. A large machine with some control panels was in the middle of the bridge. "This is the power room where we set the temperature on this floor. The reason why it is important was that if this whole place is too hot...I think you those giant capsules with strange looking bodies inside them, right? Well, if this floor is too hot, those things will wake up and possibly break out from the capsules. So, we have to make sure that it stays this way. Not too warm." Allan explained. He looked at the panel and frowned. "What the-?" he looked closer. The temperature was higher than usual. He quickly set the temperature lower. "Who the heck changed the temperature...?" Allan scratched his head. He turned around and saw Daniel headed to the other way towards the other door. "Daniel, don't go there!" Allan shouted but the door already slid open. He rushed to Daniel but he stopped in his place when he saw the chamber.

"What is this place?" Daniel asked Allan. His eyes locked on the enormous cylinder containment in the middle of the chamber. It seemed that all of the tubes and pipes in this facility leads to this chamber. There were machines all over the place. In front of the containment made of glass, there were control panels that linked to it. Everything in this room seemed to have more than enough power to run the whole facility. Allan glanced at the room. "I...I don't know. I never see this room before. I didn't even know it exists." he answered, still bewildered at the sight of the room. Then Daniel saw something inside the cylinder glass. It looked like a human being...only with silver skin and spikes on both arms and horns on its head. What caught his attention was the glowing light from its chest. It glowed with a small tint of..._light blue_. The same light blue when he was in the...

**_"Hello, Daniel..."_**

"We...We better go now, Daniel. I don't think it's safe here." Allan pulled Daniel out from the room. **_"Don't go..."_**the mechanical voice called out. It sounded..._sad_. Allan didn't seem to hear the voice. Daniel looked back at the mysterious being in the glass. It stared back at Daniel with white eyes that sent chills down his spine. **_"She's waiting down_ there..."** that was the last thing Daniel heard before the door slid closed behind him. Allan noticed Daniel's behavior while walking out from the power room. "Daniel, are you alright?" he asked. "You seemed to...froze back there." Daniel shook his head. "It was nothing." he answered. Allan frowned at that. "Daniel..." he spoke. "You can tell me anything. Were you hearing voices back there?" "I...I..." Daniel stuttered. He didn't know what to say. "What did they say, Daniel?" Allan asked. Daniel looked surprised. Suddenly Allan was interested in these things...what a surprised. "Why do you want to know?" Daniel asked back. Allan paused for a moment then he shook his head. "Never mind. I shouldn't ask you that." They continued their way back.

"I think what we saw back there is the thing that your father worked on." Allan spoke up. "My wife mentioned something about a room that only a few have access to it. She also didn't know what was inside." "Well, I guess you can tell her when we reach the room." Daniel shrugged. Allan looked sad by that. "I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?" Daniel apologized. Allan shook his head. "No, no...it's just that...I don't think I can tell my wife anything anymore." "What do you mean?" ...there was silence. "...My wife...is not here, Daniel." Allan answered finally. Daniel didn't like the sound of that. "At least...she's in a better place now." Allan wiped off his tears an let out a sigh. So many good people died in this place. They all have families and friends. All gone and broken in the flash when those creatures broke out from their chambers and attacked everyone. "Now it's just me and the rest of the researchers in he-"

A large leech bounced upward to Allan with a wide opened mouth full of fangs. Daniel and Allan screamed. Robert reached out his hand and caught the leech's tail just in time before it bit Allan's face and swung it down on the floor. He quickly stomped on it until it splattered all over the floor. "Allan..." Robert glared at him. "...get in the room before I shove the remains of this leech up your rear!" Both Daniel and Allan quickly went inside the room...with blood all over the floor and researchers with bloodstains on their uniform. Sarah, Stephen and Terrance were so relief that both of them are back. "Thank goodness! You guys are alright." Sarah sighed. Stephen tried to calm Terrance down again. "Wait...Where's Carl?" Allan looked around. "Dead." said one of the researchers. "Got eaten by those suckers from inside and out..." All of them sadden. Another guy dead. There was no corpse to mourn.

Robert came inside again. This time, he closed the entrance door. Everyone looked at Robert. The whole room was deadly silent...this time, it was filled with tension. "Those who are injured, raise your hand up." Robert asked in a cold tone. Nobody raised their hand. "Good." he sighed. "From now on, I'll keep my eyes on all of you. Anyone who leave this room without my permission will-" Then everybody heard something in the detention room. Robert paused...then continued. "Those who leave this room without my permission will have a serious punishment from-" "Ugh!" The sound coming from the detention room wasn't a nice one. Everybody stared at the door... the banging and the scratching in the room ceased. Everybody looked confused. "What the hell is Bob doing now?!" Robert walked to the door and opened it. The door swung open and everyone saw the horror in the room. Bob was lying on the floor, motionless soaked in blood and wounds all over him. There was a long cut on his stomach and it traced all the way up to his neck. It was as if he was cut open by something sharp. "Oh, my God..." a researcher gasped at the sight.

Robert quickly closed the door and locked the door. "That's it! If I see more of those leeches again..." Robert grumbled. Other researchers dropped their stuff and settled down again. Sarah, Stephen and Terrance removed their lab coat and put it aside. "Hey...how come it's getting cold around here?" Lance tried to warm himself by rubbing his hands. Terrance looked at Daniel and handed him spare clothing. "You might want to change, Daniel. Those torn blue of yours won't help you with the cold." They were grey shirt and black jeans. A bit big for his size but better than wearing this torn pajamas... "Thank you."

Terrance tilted his head. "I'm curious...how old are you exactly?" Daniel looked at Terrance with blank expression. "This is 2000, right?" Terrance nodded. Daniel thought for a second then he answered. "...I'm 19." Allan looked at him in disbelief. _"What?"_ Sarah, Stephen and Terrance couldn't believe it either. "You...don't look like 19...more like 11 or something." Terrance stammered. Daniel shrugged. "Yeah, it's weird. I even wonder myself why I still looked like this." "Maybe you are a retarded kid." Lance blurted out. Sarah stood up, walked to Lance and slapped him hard right on his cheek. "The only retarded people I see around here is you and Anthony." Sarah hissed. Anthony and Lance glared at her. Allan sighed. "Never mind them, Daniel."

...Later that night, while others were asleep, Lance, Anthony and some of the researchers were still awake, talking quietly to one another. "You guys noticed it, right?" Lance started the conversation. "Everything was less dangerous around here. When that brat showed up on the entrance, all hell broke loose around here and we got in trouble because of him." the other researchers agreed. "Look. Bob and Carl are dead. Who will be next? Anthony?" Anthony glared at Lance. "Well, that was just a question." Lance defended himself. "I mean, that brat brings nothing but trouble. Just like his insane father." they all nodded. "Anyway, I think we can solve this problem. There's one solution that can rid of some troubles around here..." they listened closely to Lance. "Gentlemen..." he whispered.

_"...We have to get rid of that little brat...fast."_

* * *

Year: 1992

Dr. Curien was confused. Things didn't go according to plan and he hates it. _He_ was supposed to be here. He said that he would be here to see him. 'I should have known that he lied...' he sighed. He was now stuck in this abandon place with all of those 'mutants' around. That was also impossible. Those 'mutants' were all dead in Louisiana...He heard that the outbreak was contained...**_BANG!_** "What the-?!" Dr. Curien looked at the door. He heard footsteps coming closer to the room where he was staying. Whoever it was, that person had a gun. 'This can't be good...' Dr. Curien put the brown envelop inside his lab coat and pulled out his gun. This didn't make him feel good to hold a gun... A young man wearing brown coat walked inside with a gun in his hand. He didn't noticed Dr. Curien in the dark? He cocked his gun...and the young man seemed to freeze. "Don't move-or I'll shoot you!" Dr. Curien spoke up.

The man tried to reason with him...and Dr. Curien found out that he was an agent...'Agent Rogan'... He came here with other agents but he was the only survivor...dang it. Nonetheless, he insisted that he could bring out of this place. 'This...'Rogan'...must be the bravest...or the craziest guy I ever met. Trying to get us out of here with a gun that almost ran out bullets...' he didn't mention it out loud.

"You have a name that I can call you properly?" Agent Rogan asked him. He smirked.

"...Name's Roy, agent Rogan..." he answered.

**Author's notes: Gosh, another long chapter... Nope, I won't tell you guys anymore spoilers...I'll just complain that I don't like the stuff that I'm studying now in University...Grammar? Feel free to point anything out...just don't use strong words, please. Next week will be ONE of the MOST busiest time in University so I won't be able to write stuff for a while...**

**Thanks for the views, reviews and reading...**


	9. Claustrophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (It's obvious...)**

Chapter 8

_"Please understand, dear one_

_All the things I've done_

_It is all for you..._

_I really missed you two..."_

Year:1994

This was the biggest and most advance facility. EFI Research Facility... Many DBR researchers worked here day and night, almost without resting, thanks to Dr. Curien. Anthony yawned. He couldn't remember when was the last time he slept. This stupid work was killing him. Lance and Carl were checking the status of experiment F-t0028 when Stephen and Sarah came in to the lab. Anthony was already asleep on the desk.

"Guys, good news and bad news." Stephen spoke up. "Good news...we're leaving this lab and let other researchers take our place." "Oh, thank goodness. I'm getting sick of all these test subjects. Seriously, I wondered where did they get all of these sloths anyway?" Lance threw away the result papers. Carl still looked at Stephen with suspicious expression. "What's the bad news?" he asked. Sarah sighed and showed them their new job. "We're working double time in **_Priority Alpha_** Section." That woke Anthony up from his beauty sleep. "What the-?! Double time?! What the heck is it this time?! An oversize rat with extra pair of eyes?!" "Uh, no. Here, have a look at this yourself." Sarah pointed at the paper that was in Carl's shaky hands. Carl looked a bit pale at the sight of their new 'subject'...

"...It's a _child_?" Carl gasped, eyes staring at the paper with shock. "Not just any child, Carl. That's his _son_." Stephen explained. Lance coughed...and faked a laugh. "Has he gone completely mad!? What does he want us to do with his son? Give him a new spine?" "No...we're assigned to...well, it says right there at the bottom of the page." Sarah pointed at the paper. Lance, Anthony and Carl looked closer. "WHAT?! We're researchers! _Not doctors!_ Why the hell didn't he bring his son to a hospital or something?" Anthony blurted out. Stephen sighed. "From what I heard...the doctors said that his son won't recover so he...planned to help him." "Such a nice dad..." Anthony said sarcastically. "Anyway, we're needed down there now so let's go." Stephen rushed everyone and they went down to the basement level.

When they entered the room, panic filled the room. The staffs were running around getting the equipment. The lady researcher was going hysterical. Terrance was adjusting the oxygen mask over the still body on the table. He looked like he was going to faint any minute...Stephen looked around. "Mrs. Miller? What's going on?" the lady turned around and pointed to the boy... "Dr. Curien is coming! He's coming and we're-" she turned pale in shock.

**_"We're losing him!"_** she screamed. The pulse line went _flat_...and Dr. Curien entered the room...

'...**_BUSTED!_**' Stephen froze. What a bad timing...

* * *

_"You always come back..._

_...like hungry wolf pack_

_You love to torment_

_without our consent..."_

Year: 2000

"What time is it now?" Terrance nudged Allan. "Uh...Ten o nine. Don't tell me that you're hungry." Allan frowned. He grabbed the bag and looked inside. "Here, have the whole bag." he handed the bag to Terrance. "What? Only three pears left?" Terrance grumbled. "Better than nothing at all." Sarah sighed. Stephen tugged Sarah's sleeve. "Actually Sarah...that's our problem now." he pointed at the bag. "That's our last bag..."

"Oh, great. We'll all starve to death because Robert won't let us go out through the entrance anymore..." Lance sighed and leaned against the wall. "For our safety so I can't let you go out through that door." Robert gave Lance a glare. Lance wasn't afraid this time. "Safety?! How about for our 'survival'? I know you're a security guard but seriously...you won't even let us go out to the harvest room to get food?" Robert glowered...then pointed upward to the air vents. "Unless you can fit in that small air vent...I highly doubt that any of you can get through...or even open it since it was screwed tightly."

"Wait...air vents? It can get us there to the harvest room?" Terrance raised an eyebrow. Robert sighed. "Where do you think the plants get the air from? The metallic floor? The air circulates through the vents. I thought that you are smarter than this, Terrance. You're the man of science, not me." Lance and Anthony snickered. "I can try to get in there." Allan offered. Robert didn't look surprised. "Well, how do you expect to remove the cover? It was screwed tight." Robert inquired. Allan walked to the air vents and pulled out something metallic from his boot. With a swift movement, Allan managed to get the screws out and pulled the cover out...which surprised everyone in the room. He climbed up and went inside the vent. It was another surprise for everyone. He poked his head out of the air vent and smirked. Anthony made a face and pulled out his wallet and gave it to Sarah.

"Well...that's...uh...unexpected." for the first time ever, Robert was stunned. "Bad news, Robert...You can't fit in here." Allan gestured to the vent. "We can see that, Mr. Obvious-pointer..." Lance rolled his eyes. "You need someone to go with you." Robert pointed out. Stephen nudged Sarah and gestured to Allan. She immediately shook her head. "No way. I'm not going in there. A lady with claustrophobia here." Terrance also shook his head. "I'm not going in there. I always get nervous when I'm in small places." 'Great...another guy with claustrophobia...' Robert sighed. "Is there anyone in this room who doesn't have this condition and can fit in that small vent?" he asked.

"...Hey, Daniel. Want to come with me?" Allan called out. The room went silent and everyone looked at Daniel. "Umm...sure." he stood up and walked to the air vent. No one was surprised when they saw that Daniel could get in the air vent. "We'll be back soon." Allan's voice echoed through the air vent. He went ahead of Daniel in to the dark vent. Daniel crawled after him. He couldn't see Allan clearly in the dark passage but at least he knew that he was ahead of him. "You know where to go there?" Daniel asked. "To tell you the truth, I don't really know." Allan answered. That...didn't make Daniel feel any better.

"But I do noticed that there are air vents in different places, including the harvest room. It is next to the power room. I think I could-" Allan suddenly stopped. "Allan? What's wrong?" Daniel tried to focus in the dark. In front of them were two paths. One of them would lead them to the harvest room...while the other...would lead to the unknown. "Uh, Daniel?..." Allan sounded nervous. "You pick...left or right." Daniel stared at Allan blankly. 'Is he serious?' he thought. Still, he had to choose one. "...right." Daniel finally answered.

"Right then." Allan went to the right and continued crawling forward until he hit the other opening. He peered through the holes of the vent and smiled. "Well, what do you know...you're right, Daniel. Great guess. This is the harvest room.' he congratulated Daniel. "I guess right is always '_right_', right?" Allan laughed. "...Ok, let's get out of here." he reached in his boots..."What the-?!" he winced. "It's gone..." "What's gone?" Daniel asked. "My pocketknife... I must have dropped it somewhere back...never mind. Stay back, Daniel." Allan kicked the vent cover and it fell down on the floor. Both of them jumped out from the air vent.

_-Meanwhile, back in the room...-_

"...What's taking them so long? It's almost an hour since they left." Sarah glanced at her wristwatch and looked at the air vent. "I hope that they don't run in to anything dangerous..." Terrance muttered.

Anthony saw something shiny on the floor under the air vent. When he took a closer look, he saw a pristine pocketknife and he picked it up. He nudged Lance and showed it to him. Lance saw it and hid the pocketknife before Robert could see it.

_-Back in the harvest room...-_

"Okay, that should do it. Let's head back." Allan carried the bag in to the air vent and reached out his hand for Daniel. "Will that be enough?" Daniel asked. "Enough for tonight." Allan shrugged. "Unless you're dieting...there might be enough for the next morning." he joked. They headed back into the vent. However, something didn't feel right on the way back... The air inside became a bit hard to breathe. "Daniel, we have to go fast. Something's wrong here. Follow me!" he went on...a little too fast.

"Allan? Allan, wait!" Daniel called out. Allan was out of his sight now... "Allan?...Allan! Where are you?" Daniel called...only to hear his own voice echoed back to him...followed by a cold laughter... 'Oh, no... Not again...' Daniel looked back in the dark passage. Suddenly, the air turned cold. He shivered. It was getting colder. He crawled in to the dark. _"Where are you going, dear?"_ the voice called out. "Anywhere away from you." Daniel muttered, still crawling back to the room.

_"...Closer than you think...Don't you ever blink..."_ it sang with voice full of hatred. _"I'm right next to you...**I'll rip you in two!**" _Even in darkness, Daniel could see what looked like a thin trace of shadow from the side of the vent. The shadow _came out_ from the wall, revealed to be a fierce looking animal claw and snatched Daniel's leg. **"Aaah-"** Daniel yelped but another claw came out from the other side muffled his mouth before he could scream. The claw sank in to his leg and he screamed...but all he could hear was the growling sound of an animal from the vents...

-Back in the room-

"Guys! I think they're back." Terrance stood up and went to the air vent. Others turned their attention to Terrance. "Hey, Allan, is that you?" Terrance called. A bag flew out and hit his face and Terrance fell back to the floor. Lance shook his head. Allan jumped out from the air vent. "Oops...Sorry, Terrance." he helped Terrance up on his feet. "...It's okay...I asked for food...and I got it right in the face..." Terrance murmured, still feeling dizzy. Allan chuckled and turned to the air vent. "Alright, Daniel, come out from there slowly and-" he stopped dead. "...Daniel?" he called. Silence. "Where is Daniel?" Stephen asked. Sarah and Robert stared at Allan. "He was right behind me!" Allan looked in to the dark vent. He saw no one.

...Deja vu...This could be the right word. Being brutally attacked in a dark place...with confined space this time. **_"I don't know how you managed to poisoned me, you little imp...but I couldn't risk for him to bring you back once I kill you...so after I hacked you in to million pieces, I'll dump your remains in the room with that tree!"_** the voice roared in rage. Daniel couldn't escape from the claws...he had to do something fast. Without second thought, he bit the claw hard and the voice howled in pain. He tried to escape but those claws got his body and sank its claws in deep. Daniel screamed.

The screamed echoed down the vent and finally reached the room where others are hiding. "Oh, God...Daniel!" Allan startled. Sarah, Stephen and Terrance looked at each other. Robert pushed Allan away from the air vent. "Allan! Step back! I'll close the vent-" "WHAT?!" Allan couldn't believe what he heard. "No! I'm going back in there!" Allan pushed Robert off his way and jumped inside the air vent. Robert caught Allan's leg. "**You idiot!** He's gone now. Don't be a fool! You'll get yourself killed."

Allan glanced at Robert. "I thought you us to be safe! All of us! Daniel's with us now and I won't let anything take him away!" with that, he kicked Robert right in his face and crawled inside the vent. Robert yelled in anger. "FINE! If that moron wants to die out there then so be it!" he picked up the air vent cover. Sarah turned pale. "No! Robert, wait-!" she shrieked. Robert slammed it on to the opening.

Daniel struggled to get those claws off his body but it was no use. It was stronger than him. Well, every creature in this facility is stronger than him anyway. It tried to rip him open...slowly and painfully. "Daniel! Daniel, where are you?!" Allan called out. The claws ripped itself off Daniel and disappeared in to darkness. Allan found Daniel unconscious. "C'mon, kid. Don't die on me." Allan slowly dragged him along. He finally reached the room but it was shut.

"What the-?! Why is this close?!" Allan kicked it...but it didn't fell off. Robert really close it tight...

"Robert?! ROBERT! Get us OUT!" Allan yelled. Nobody answered. "Guys? C'mon, guys! Don't do this!" he shouted. He heard Sarah saying something to Robert and he grunted. The cover shook a bit...then it came off. "Oh, thank-" Allan was pulled out from the vent and fell down on the floor hard. Robert got Daniel out and put him down on the floor. Stephen quickly covered Terrance's eyes. "Terrance, you might wanted to look away." he warned.

Allan got up on his feet but was slammed to the wall by Robert. Everybody jumped. "You are so DEAD for this!" Robert yelled. Allan could see why. On the side of Robert's face was red because of that kick he gave to Robert. Robert raised his giant fist in the air and punched...only to missed Allan and made a huge dent on the metallic wall instead. Allan went away from Robert. "Hey! What's wrong with you?! I didn't put anyone in here in trouble while I went back for Daniel!"

"When I tell you to stay here...I mean it! What if those creatures found you and followed you here?! We're stuck in the corner here and you're bringing more threats!" Robert bellowed right in Allan's face. That would scare everyone to death but Allan didn't even flinch. "Are you saying that you'll leave Daniel in there to die?" Allan said with a stern voice. "Open your eyes, Allan. That bastard brings nothing but trouble to us." Lance blurted out in spite. "Lance! Watch what you're saying!" Sarah reprimanded. "He's better off dead!" Lance shouted.

"Enough! All of you!" Robert banged the wall, staring at everyone. He pointed at the air vent. "Keep our eyes on that opening. We have no idea what will come out of there. Always be ready for anything." "We're not security guards..." Lance muttered. "I heard that!" Robert snapped.

Sarah shook Daniel gently. He stirred and slowly came to. "Daniel, are you feeling alright?" she examined his body, looking for injuries. "Oh, you're fine." she looked relief. 'Fine?!' Daniel startled. He looked at his body...and found no trace of wounds on him. The bite mark on his shoulder was completely gone... Sarah noticed his behavior. "Daniel? Something's wrong?" she asked. 'Yeah. I think I was ripped in to two but when I came out, there were no wounds on me.' Daniel thought...but he decided not to tell her. He didn't want to startle anyone. "I'm...just glad that I'm okay...and everyone here is okay." Daniel told Sarah.

Sarah shrugged. "Oh, well...lucky to be alive." Allan sat down beside Stephen and whispered something that made Stephen shock. They came closer to Sarah, Terrance and Daniel. "Guys...I have something to tell you." Allan lowered his voice. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "What?! You have a cellphone this whole time?! Why didn't you call for help?!" Stephen hissed at Allan. "There's a small problem. There's no signal. That's why I can't call anybody." Allan explained. Terrance nudged Stephen and then whispered. "There's a satellite up on the roof top. I think he can get the signal from there."

"So, how do we go up there?" Sarah tilted her head. "I mean...Robert won't let us use the door anymore." "How about the air vent? It can lead anyone to anywhere, even to the rooftop, right?" Terrance whispered. That was when they turned to Allan...

"Allan..." Stephen spoke up. "Looks like you're going to have another _chat_ with Robert..."

* * *

Year: 1995 [around late autumn...]

The outlook of Curien mansion had changed. It looked like it was abandoned. All the greenery around the mansion, especially the garden beside the fountain withered away. A black car stopped by the front gate and a man in brown suit stepped out from the car. He walked in the front yard and looked around. 'Holy-...what happened here?' he thought. "Who are you? What do you want?" a tired voice was heard behind the man's back. He turned around and saw... "..._Roy?_" Rogan gasped. "Wha..._Thomas?_" Dr. Curien was taken by surprised. The last time they saw each other was outside of that building filled with mutants. _Agent Rogan_...didn't changed a bit.

"Roy...What happened to you? You look...terrible." Rogan frowned slightly at the sight of Dr. Curien. "I...I just...have a situation at work but I got it under control..." Dr. Curien sighed heavily. "If this is a bad time...I can come back later." Rogan stepped back but stopped by Dr. Curien. "No...wait. I...I could use some company around here..." he spoke softly. Despair...it lingered in the air. Rogan could feel it. They have a small chat near the fountain. Rogan told Dr. Curien that after they parted ways, he got a new partner. A great partner. He also talked about his trip to Japan openly. Rogan hoped that by having a nice chat with a friend would lift his mood. It did a bit.

Soon, it was time for Rogan to leave. He walked to the gate but he tripped and fell down on the ground. "Thomas? Are you alright? Are you h-" Dr. Curien rushed to Rogan and helped him up. Rogan shook his head. "I'm fine. Well, that was embarrassing..." he dusted off the dirt from his suit. "Oh, man...I dropped it." Rogan sighed and bent down to get a small casket on the ground. "I hope it's still in a good shape..." Rogan opened the small casket...When Dr. Curien saw the object inside the casket, he thought he was going to die of shock. It was a very beautiful ring with topaz on top, glittering under the daylight. The same ring that he gave to Katherine years ago when he proposed to her...near the fountain in front of the mansion.

"Oh, Roy. Did I mention that I'm engaged to a woman? I planned to pro-" Rogan stopped when he saw Dr. Curien."Roy? What's wrong? Did I-" "Thanks for coming, Thomas." he blurted. "I-I'll go back inside now." he turned around and walked back to the mansion without saying another word, leaving Rogan to stand there, confused. Rogan put the casket back inside his pocket and headed to his car. He couldn't help but wonder whether he really saw tears in Curien's eyes before he left.

**Author's notes: I hope everyone's eyes are still okay...and the University is still a pain in the rear... also...self correction can be funny sometimes..._REAL_ funny...XP **

**Within the busiest week...I tried to type this...What? Some stuff are more fun than some of the subjects...**

**Thanks for the views, reviews and reading...**


	10. Autophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (If I own them, you'll see me in the credits...but I'm NOT there so I don't own anything.)**

Chapter 9

Year: 1996 [AMS HQ]

The phone kept ringing. It kept ringing. No one answered the phone. "Huh...That's odd." Rogan mumbled to himself. He hung up the phone. His partner G was reading a folder beside the door. When he saw that worried expression on his partner's face, he put the folder inside the cabinet. "What's wrong?" he asked though he didn't sound so interested. Rogan sighed heavily as he sat down on the chair. "Sophie isn't picking up her phone. This is the fourth time already this week..." "She must be busy..." G murmured, looking at the phone on Rogan's desk.

The door suddenly swung open and hit G against the wall. A rookie agent came inside with a bag in his hand. "Agent Rogan, boss wanted you to have a look at the evidence in this bag." "Uhh..." Rogan was speechless...and still looking at the door. The rookie looked around the room and asked. "Wait. Where's that special agent guy?" Rogan just pointed at the door and the rookie gasped. "Oh my..." he walked towards the door. "I hope he's al-" G punched through the door and hit the rookie right in his face.

Rogan smirked. 'There goes another rookie with a black eye this week. Maybe I should put a sign **'Beware of Silver Fang'** in front of the door.' He looked at the phone on his desk and frowned.

'I hope Sophie is alright...'

* * *

_"Just...leave me alone_

_No sins to atone_

_No one to save me_

_Nowhere else to flee..."_

Year: 2000

"No, no, no, and no. There's no way I'm going to let you go back in there again, Allan." Robert shook his head, still blocking the way to the air vent. "Of all the sane mind around here, Allan...you're the most insane person." Lance muttered without care. Allan almost looked surprised by that. "Don't you people want to get out of this hell hole?! This is one of those chance that we can get help from the outside world!" Allan turned to Robert and tried again. "Robert, please, just move..." "There are high chances that you might not come back, Allan. We don't know what was in that vent and that kid almost didn't make it a while ago...and you're still insisting me to let you go back in there?!" Robert poked Allan's chest with the tip of his chain. "This is my final answer: No way."

Allan stood very stiff, glaring at Robert. Clearly, he looked displeased. Very displease. "...I can't believe this." Allan spoke with stern voice. "You want us to stay here and rot?" "That's not what I-" "High chances to die or not, I'm still going up there and give it a try." Allan interrupted. Robert sighed. "You're the most stubborn idiot I ever met, Allan." "Not as stubborn as you are. Move." Allan pointed, gesturing for Robert to move away. "I already warned you, Allan." Robert spoke. Allan ignored that. "I'm going solo this time."

"What?!" Sarah looked shock. Stephen also had the same reaction. "You need someone to watch your back." "Not this time..." with that, Allan disappeared into the dark vent. Terrance grimaced. "Uh-oh..." he murmured. "Well...guess we have to wait for him." Stephen shrugged. Robert grumbled to himself. Sarah glanced around the room. She noticed that Lance and Anthony stared at Daniel. Something told her that something bad will happen but she wasn't sure what.

Terrance moved a little closer to Daniel. "Umm...hey, Daniel. You feeling okay?" Daniel shook his head. "I'm worried about Allan." he answered. Terrance nodded. "Me too. We all are." he leaned against the wall and tried to relax. "So...did Sarah gave you that old notebook?" Terrance started another conversation. Daniel nodded. He turned to Terrance and showed him the notebook. "Where...did she find this? I haven't seen this notebook since my..." he stopped. This notebook belonged to his father. He always carried it with him. How did it end up here?

"Uh...Sarah found it in his office." Terrance pointed to Sarah. "She...read it once...out of curiosity. Dr. Curien...beat her afterwards..." he shivered at the last sentence. Sarah seemed to hear that and smirked. "Don't worry, Daniel. It didn't hurt that much." Lance winced at that. "Yeah, what a nice gentleman. He beat the crap out of you and some woman called Richards." "Shut up, Lance." Stephen shot him a glare.

"He's actually a good person. I mean...he tried to help you after all." Sarah smiled and patted Daniel's back. "Yeah. Even though most of the time he spook the heck out me..." Terrance leaned back against the wall trying to relax. "What the-?" Stephen stared at Terrance and Daniel. "Stephen? What is it?" Sarah looked confused. Stephen looked at Sarah and gestured to Daniel. "You didn't notice anything?" he asked her. Sarah still had that confused expression on her face.

"Terrance, sit up straight." Stephen ordered. Terrance also looked confused but he did what Stephen told him. "What are you trying to show us, Stephen?" Sarah couldn't understand the situation. Stephen finally gave out his observation. "...I think Daniel is getting taller." "So? Don't we all grow taller?" Terrance scratched his head. He looked at Daniel and then shrugged. "He's a kid after all." "...taller about 3 inches _overnight?_ Isn't that...strange?" Stephen asked Terrance.

Robert wasn't so surprised. "So? My cousin grew about 6 inches overnight." Everybody looked at Robert with wide eyes. "...What?" Robert raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me that your last name isn't '_Giant_'..." Terrance whimpered. Robert smirked. "No. It's Mason." Terrance sighed with relief. "Still, I think it's a bit weird about this." Stephen pointed at Daniel. "It looked like...age is catching up with him or something." "Well, good!" Lance shot a cold glare at Daniel. "I hope he die faster than the rest of us."

"What the hell is wrong with you and Anthony?!" Stephen snapped. "Quit your endless curses about Daniel, will you!?" "...and who do you think you are, Stephen? His new _father_?" "Shut up, Lance!" Sarah hissed. Anthony snickered. "Hey, Sarah...you wanted to be his_mommy_?" "Geez, Anthony... You sounded like a duck that broke its vocal cords." Sarah sneered harshly. **"Hey, shut up! All of you!"**Robert stomped his foot down. Everybody stopped. "For crying out loud! You people are much worse than a bunch of kids! Quit turning up the heat on this whole situation, will you?!"

"Talking about the heat...is it just me or is the whole place is getting _hot?_" Terrance tried to fan himself with his hand. He was sweating a little. Everybody froze in horror. "Oh no...if this place is getting hot then-" Stephen was interrupt by a loud noise coming from the air vent. Everybody jumped at turned their attention to it. Allan jumped out from the air vent, full of disappointment. "Guys..." he shook his head. "Let me guess. It didn't work." Lance cut him off. "There was a signal..." Allan explained. "...but while the cellphone was dialing the number, the line was cut off. Like it was jammed by something."

Anthony probably snapped or something. He pulled the pocketknife out from Lance's coat and rushed towards Daniel before anyone could stop him. He pulled Daniel towards him and pointed the knife at the boy's throat. "I had enough of this." he spoke. Daniel froze with shock. Others also had the same reaction. "He's gone mad like Bob!" Terrance panicked. Allan looked pretty mad when he saw his pocketknife in Anthony's hand. "Anthony! Put that down! Don't hurt him!" Sarah shrieked. Her mind froze. She didn't know what to do. "This brat brings nothing but trouble and bad luck! We should just finish him off!" Anthony drew the weapon closer to Daniel.

"You had a point, Anthony...but this is _a little too much_." even Lance joined in, trying to reasoned with him. Clearly, it didn't work. "Anthony," Allan stepped a little closer to Anthony. "...put my pocketknife down or I'll make you." Anthony laughed. "Make me? I'll slit his throat before you could even take a step forward." Daniel froze. If he moved, Anthony wouldn't hesitate to slit his throat. Allan wasn't giving up. "Last chance, Anthony!" he warned. "Put. It. Down." he pointed at the pocketknife. "...Make me!" Anthony shouted. Allan then nodded to the person behind Anthony.

"Fine! I'll make you drop it!" Robert slammed his fist down on Anthony's head and dragged him away from Daniel. Robert quickly opened the detention room door and threw Anthony inside then quickly shut it. "Enjoy your stay!" Robert sneered. Allan rushed to Daniel. "Are you alright?" "I'm...okay, I think." Daniel shivered a bit, still frighten by the crazed researcher. Allan got his pocketknife back. When he turned around and faced Terrance, he noticed that the young researcher was sweating.

"! Terrance? Are you sweating?" that wasn't a good sign at all. The whole floor was getting too warm. "Allan, you didn't change the temperature in the power room on your way back here, right?" Stephen asked. Fear was very clear in his voice. Everyone looked at Allan. "No, I didn't change it!" he shook his head. "Why would I change it if-"

**"AAAAAH! Get away from me!"** Anthony's scream pierced through the tense atmosphere. Everyone's attention turned to the detention room. **"Oh my God! NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NOOoo! AAAaa-!"** then silence. Robert went closer to the room and listened. "...what the heck was that?" he murmured...then he saw blood seeped from the door. "What the-!?" he stepped away from the door. "Anthony?" he called. No answer...

The door suddenly broke in half and everybody screamed. The blood soaked creature waddled out from the room and snarled. "Dear Mother of-...is that Bob?!" Terrance gasped. Anthony was ripped in half and was thrown down on the floor. The creature roared and charged forward to Stephen but was tackled down by Robert. "Somebody do something!" Sarah shrieked. Allan stabbed the creature's head but... "Holy-!" Allan pulled his knife out. The creature growled. Green blood dripped down from the cut. " That does it!" Robert yelled and slammed its head down on the floor hard. The creature's head went splat, leaving a pool of green liquid on the floor. "Eew!" Lance covered his mouth.

Down the hallway, the giant capsules broke and the bony zombies ran out from the chambers...to their direction. The entire floor shook as they ran towards the room. "What do we do now?!" Terrance panicked. "Where do we go?!" he screamed. The rest of the researchers also panicked. Robert rushed to the entrance door and opened it. "There's another empty room close to the power room on the next floor. Go now! All of you!" he pointed to the hallway. "Wait...what about you?" Daniel looked at the guard who held the chain firmly. "...I'll try to slow them down while you guys ran up stairs." he answered.

"Robert..." Allan was shocked to hear that. "You can't-" "AAAAah!" Lance screamed. The headless body of Bob tried to strangle Lance. Sarah and Stephen rushed to Lance and pulled the creature away from him. The bony zombies finally reached the room and attacked the researchers. Some chased the researchers down the hallway. Screams and howls filled the air as they swarmed in the room. Robert tried his best to beat them down...but they overwhelmed him in seconds. Lance tried to run to the door but the zombies caught him and ate him alive. "Oh, God!" Stephen gasped. Sarah, Terrance, Stephen, Allan and Daniel were the only ones left. "They're everywhere!" Terrance screamed.

"Not everywhere..." Allan looked up. The air vent was still open. "We're going in there." he jumped in the vent and reached out his hands. "Guys, c'mon!" he yelled. "Daniel, you go first." Stephen pushed Daniel up to Allan. The bony zombies saw them and snarled. They came towards them. "Terrance! Go!" Stephen pushed Terrance up the vent after Daniel. Stephen jumped up and reached his hand for Sarah. "Sarah! Take my hand!" he called her. Sarah caught his hand...but the zombies pulled her away. She screamed. Her hand slipped away from Stephen. **"SARAH!"** Stephen screamed. Terrance pulled Stephen in. "She's gone, Stephen." he sighed and headed in to the vent.

The four of them crawled in the dark vent. They could hear the zombies inside. "Where are we going?" Stephen asked. "The room that Robert talked about. I think the way to that room is that way." Allan pointed to the other way. Daniel recognized this path. The right side would bring them to the harvest room...the left side, however, he didn't know where it would lead them to. He hoped that it's the room that Robert talked about.

_"...My little chew toys..."_ the voice echoed. Daniel froze. Not in here again... _"My cute little boys..."_ it sang. "Did you hear that?" Stephen asked everyone. Daniel was surprised to know that others heard the voice too. "It's a woman's voice. Where did it came from?' Terrance glanced around the vent but saw nothing. Allan didn't say anything. The vent shook and a vicious growl was heard. "S-something is in here with us!" Stephen looked back and saw a pair of wild golden eyes staring at him. Others saw it as well...including Daniel. _"...Run while you all can..."_ it whispered coldly. "G-go now!" Stephen yelled...then he was pulled away in to the dark. His scream echoed in the vents.

**"Stephen!"** Terrance panicked. "Terrance, hurry up or that thing will catch you!" Allan's voice shook when he called Terrance. "We're almost there!"

When Allan and Daniel reached the end, Terrance wasn't there. The spine-chilling scream was heard again. **"NO! PLEASE, NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"** Terrance cried.

Daniel shivered. Only two of them were left in the vent. Allan kicked the cover and pushed Daniel out of the vent. A huge animal paw grasped Allan's shoulder and tried to pull him back in the vent. "Allan!" Daniel caught Allan's hand and tried to remove the paw from his shoulder. Like always, he couldn't remove it. Allan winced from the pain. "It's alright, Daniel...You can get out of here. You can get through this." Daniel shook his head. The word 'you' was for him. "No, Allan! _We'll_ get out of here!" "I always knew that you would survive through this..." Allan sounded so..._hopeful_...Daniel found that very strange. "Just let me go, Daniel. Just go..." Allan said weakly. Blood seeped through his jacket and dripped down in the vent. "No! I won't!" Daniel cried. Allan gave his pocketknife to Daniel and _smiled_. "...Good-bye, Daniel." he pushed Daniel away from him and he was pulled in to the vent.

**"ALLAN!**" Daniel yelled. Allan was gone. He couldn't believe what just happened. _Everybody...gone. Gone...and he was alone. Again!_He wasn't in an empty room though... It was the same chamber that has the mysterious being in the middle of the room. For the moment, he thought that he was safe...then everything vanished. He was back to square one again...still no clue how to leave this facility...and alone. Daniel still stared at the vent and saw those wild eyes that stared back at him. _"...I'll be back for you soon...child..." _said the cold voice full of spite. Those eyes disappeared in to the dark.

Daniel backed away until he hit the cylindrical containment. He pressed himself against its warm metallic surface. _'...Everyone's dead and I'm alone again...'_ he sobbed silently.

Daniel didn't notice that the silver being bent down and watched him...but he heard the soothing voice that came out from the containment.

**_"You're safe here, Daniel...Safe with me..."_**

* * *

_"Jealousy, that's me._

_Wherever I see..._

_They have happiness_

_I have emptiness..."_

Year: 1996 [In the lab within Curien Mansion]

**"RICHARDS!"** Dr. Curien swung the door open and yelled. All the researchers in the room were startled at the sudden voice that interrupted their concentration. The blond woman in maroon suit, however, didn't look so startled by it as if she was expecting Dr. Curien to scream his head off. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Dr. Curien slammed the gray folder on the table in front of her. The contents in the folder came out and spread over her table. All of them had the word 'abomination' written in red marker.

Sophie Richards simply looked at him blankly and just swiped all of those papers off her table. Other researchers in the room gasped. "What? I did exactly what you told me to do. You asked me to observe the subjects and wrote the results down. Isn't this what you asked for?" Sophie pointed down to those papers. "If you don't like that then I can tell you in words or you can assign someone else that will tell you only the stuff that you wanted to hear-" **"ENOUGH!"** Dr. Curien whacked her shoulder hard. The poor researcher hit the floor hard. She stood up holding her shoulder and frowned but didn't say a word.

"I expected you to do BETTER than THIS, Richards!" Dr. Curien pointed the cane at her. From the corner of his eyes, he saw other researchers looking at him. "WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS LOOKING AT?!" they turned back to their work, avoiding eye contact. Dr. Curien shot a cold stare at Sophie. "If I see your next report, Richards, I expect to see -" Dr. Curien stopped. He saw something gleaming at Sophie's finger... That same topaz ring around her finger... In her place, stood a familiar brown haired woman in green gown looking at him with sad blue eyes. He froze. _'...Katherine?'_

_'Oh, Roy. Did I mention that I'm engaged to a woman?'_ Rogan's words echoed at the back of his mind. He looked so happy when he said that... Rogan was _happy_...that made him felt _sick_. The phantom of his wife disappeared and that blond researcher took her place still glaring at him. He had enough of this woman. He turned back and stormed out of the lab. "Richards, are you alright?" one of the researcher asked Sophie after Dr. Curien left. She just nodded. "What was that all about?" another researcher asked. Sophie shrugged.

"Maybe he realized that hitting a woman isn't a brilliant move." she told the researcher. She wondered to herself.

_'...Why did he stare at my ring?'_

**Author's notes: ...Oh boy...stuff about to get real...to me anyway. XP**

**So after all of this, should I change this to rated 'M' instead of 'T'?...plus, I'm getting lame in making those 'poems'.**

**Thanks for the views, reviews and reading...again.**


	11. Selenophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (...*sighs*)**

Chapter 10

_"Gone with this madness_

_Now it's all pointless_

_I'm no longer sane_

_Hands red with blood stain..."_

Year: 1998 [Curien Mansion]

"Richards! Run!" the researcher yelled...and was cut in half by a fat corpse that carried a chainsaw. A chainsaw! Sophie ran out from the lab and through the tunnels. As she passed through different rooms in the mansion, she heard screams and groans from both monsters and those researchers...her friends...slaughtered. She stopped to catch her breath. 'This can't be happening!' Sophie looked around and noticed that this was the living room. After this room would be the hallway that would lead her to the front door and she could escaped. But...those monsters surrounded the whole mansion...She wanted to escape...she wanted safety...she wanted someone to help-

She could think of the only person who could help her now... She ran to the table and dialed the numbers on the phone. The growling sounds got closer and scared Sophie. When she heard the beep in the phone, she sighed. Her fiancé wasn't there to pick up the phone. The windows around the living room shattered and Sophie panicked. She screamed in to the phone. **"HELP! EVERYONE IS GETTING KILLED!"** ...the line was cut off...

"Calling someone, Ms. Richards?" Dr. Curien was there in front of the door, holding the phone line. Sophie dropped the phone and backed away. "Y-you!" she stammered. "G-get away from me!" Sophie shivered. The crazed scientist pointed at her with his cane. "What a rude woman. Don't raised your voice with me, Richards." he stepped closer to Sophie. "Don't come any closer, you...you deranged man! You let go of those abominations on us!" Sophie screamed. Dr. Curien looked offended by that. "Abominations? ABOMINATIONS?!" he frowned. "You researchers spent lots of time working on them and you call them abominations?! No...no..." he smiled wickedly "...no...they're..._family_. We gave them life! Now they walked around to 'greet' you people and what do you do? Scream and run? That's not how it works, Richards."

"Go to Hell, Curien!" Sophie hissed. "I doubt that you even know what family really is! If you even have a family, I'm sure they prefer to die than to stay with a psycho like you!" That was when Sophie realized that she went too far. _"You..."_ Dr. Curien growled. "How _DARE_ you, Richards!" He stormed towards Sophie and twisted her wrist. Sophie shrieked at the sudden pain. "I knew it that you're nothing but a pain at my side, woman! You won't get away from this!" "Let me go, you creep!" Sophie punched the crazed scientist in the face and ran out from the living room. Dr. Curien screamed in rage as he stood up from the ground. He was hit to the ground by a woman...he couldn't believe it... A tall being in metallic armor with a halberd in its hands entered the room.

**"KILL THAT WOMAN!"** Dr. Curien roared.

**"KILL HER! I WANT HER _DEAD!_"**

* * *

_"...Moon, Queen of all Fear_

_Her hatred draws near_

_Careful, my dear son..._

_She'll kill you for fun..."_

Year: 2003

It was wonderful... Everybody managed to get out from the facility. Everyone was happy. Sarah and Stephen hugged each other, Terrance and Carl laughed, Anthony and Lance smiled happily, Robert sighed in relief that everything was over. Then...Allan walked towards him. "We did it, Daniel!" Allan patted his back. "We finally made it out!" Allan looked really blissful. He looked to the gates and nudged Daniel. "Oh, look who's here to see you..." he spoke. The fog was dense but the figure behind it was quite visible. It called out. "..._Daniel_." "...Wha-?" Daniel squinted, trying to see who was behind the fog. The figure walked out from the fog. Daniel gasped. _"...Dad?"_

"Daniel, you're...you're back." Dr. Curien smiled and opened his arms. "Come here, son." Daniel didn't hesitate to run to his father and embraced him. "I missed you, dad...They told me that you were dead..." he murmured. He was so happy that the nightmare was finally-

_"He is dead...child." _the woman's voice was very loud and clear. Daniel froze in horror when he realized that the voice came from the being that he believed was his father...The being transformed in to a giant furry beast and bit him.

**"GET AWAY FROM ME!" **Daniel screamed. His eyes snapped open and he realized that he was still in the facility... It was a nightmare...made by _her_ no doubt...but it got him every time...every night. He had to admit that she did a pretty good job trying to make him go crazy. Three years passed and he still wasn't used to with the dark atmosphere around the facility. There was no way to escaped, nowhere to hide...he always felt that someone or something watching him. He avoided moving around dark corners of the facility...which was quite hard with those flesh-eating creatures walking everywhere. Everywhere!

_"Daniel? Are you alright?"_ the silver being asked with concern...like it always did these passing years. This was something that Daniel didn't understand. Why should it care about Daniel's welfare? At least he had someone to talk to. _"It's her again, isn't?"_ it glowered. Sparks of electricity appeared around its slender hands. "There's nothing you can do anyway." Daniel sighed. He leaned against the containment and felt the warmth of the machine. The being was placed inside the containment so how can it help him anyway? The being knelt down and pressed its hands against the glass. _"I promised you, Daniel. You'll get out of here."_ it assured. "What can you possibly do? You're in there." Daniel scoffed. He heard that a lot lately but he was still here.

_"You don't know what I'm can do... Once I'm done in developing my system, I will set things right for you..." _It actually cared for Daniel but it never spoke of its real goal to him. Things would go out of plan. _"Everything won't be out of my sight...including you." _"I don't understand...why are you protecting me?" Daniel crossed his arms and faced the being. This strange silver being looked more dangerous than the rest of the creatures he encountered...but it wanted him to be safe. It remained silent. It never answered that question like the first time it talked to him in the dark hallway. For four years, it never gave Daniel the answer. "Answer me!" he demanded. It recoiled. "...You must be safe. There are dangerous matters that will harm you and I must make certain that you are safe."

"Why only me? What about the others?" Daniel couldn't stop thinking about them. He saw them every night before he closed his eyes and heard their screams in his dreams. It tilted its head as if it was confuse. _"Others?"_ it asked. _"If you're referring to those insignificant survivors, I don't see why you should care for them."_ "Insignificant?!" Daniel snapped. "They just wanted to get out of here!" _"If they leave this place then the problem of the world would remain unchanged. Therefore, they must be eliminated. The power chamber which controls the temperature was tampered by them to prevent the 'cryo-lif's awakening. They caused that problem._" The being replied. _"...and I simply changed the temperature back."_

Daniel took a step back, eyes widen in shock. "It...It was you." he gasped. "You changed it..." The being nodded. _"I did."_

"You MONSTER!" Daniel yelled. "You killed them!" The being glowered slightly. _"That is incorrect."_ it spoke, feeling offended. _"...the cryo-lifs destroyed them...not me."_ "...and you expect me to feel safe around you?!" Daniel spat. He found this unfair. He survived...under the 'protection' from this being while the researchers got brutally murdered by monsters. He walked away from the being and was about to leave the chamber when the being stopped him. _"Daniel...don't leave."_ it pleaded. Daniel glanced back at it. "Watch me." He left.

The door closed behind him. He dropped on his knees. Despair...that was all he felt these days. It would drive him mad soon. The power room was a bit brighter than before, thanks to that silver being. The water under the bridge looked deeper and creepier than usual with all the moss creeping its way up to the bridge's pole. He saw his reflection in the water... 'Stephen was right...age was catching up with me slowly.' he smirked. The reflection of a hopeless teenager in dark gray clothing stared back at him with familiar sad blue eyes. The night seemed to drag on forever as he watched his own reflection as if he wanted it to talk to him.

"...I see that you've grown, Daniel..." a familiar voice called him. Daniel almost fell off the bridge when he saw the one in front of him. He must be hallucinating...or going insane right now... "...S-stay away from me!" Daniel backed away. The impostor in the guise of Allan frowned as he walked towards Daniel. "Daniel? What's wrong with you? It's me, Allan. I'm your friend, remember?" Even the voice that came out from it sounded exactly like the real Allan...but Daniel wasn't convinced. "I said stay away from me!" Daniel pulled out the pocketknife and pointed right at the imposter's face. It stopped its pace. "Daniel...please." it pleaded, reaching out its arms. "You know it's me." "Do I look stupid to you?! Allan is dead! You killed him!" Daniel retorted.

The impostor was stiff for a moment...then a wicked smile crept on its face. _"Yes, I killed him...and I enjoyed it."_ it admitted. _"...and now...**I'll enjoy hacking you into million pieces!"**_ Without a warning, it pushed Daniel off the bridge and laughed. The tone of its laughter changed in to the same woman voice.

Daniel sank in to the water. He swam up to the surface but before he could take a breath, something pulled him back in to the water. The water was freezing and he found it hard to pry the strong grip off his leg. It was the same creature that he once encountered somewhere in the facility that covered with all the weeds and moss. This time, it was more dangerous than before and Daniel noticed that he was surrounded by hundreds of them under water. They pulled him deeper in to the water and the coldness was almost unbearable. The pressure in his head and lack of oxygen made the situation much worse.

_"Three years passed and you're still the same helpless little pup! What a pity..." _It mocked. Even under the water, Daniel could see those pair of golden eyes staring at him. Would that be the last thing he sees? ...No.

With the weapon still in his hand, Daniel slashed the creature's arm. The creature howled in pain but Daniel didn't hear it. 'You're wrong, woman!' Daniel swam upward. The other creatures swam towards him. To his surprise, they stopped before they reached him. _**"WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!"**_ the woman's voice screamed in rage. There was a growling voice and it roared. _**"YOU! Stop interfering, you stupid thing! He's MINE!" **_the impostor suddenly disappeared in to the shadow.

Daniel finally reached the bridge and gasped for air. There were water creatures that stared at him with hungry eyes but they kept their distance. When he glanced at them, they groaned and sank in to the deep water. "Daniel, get back in here, fast!" the silver being called from the chamber. The door slid open, waiting for him to enter. Before Daniel could make it through the entrance, the huge animal paws came out from the shadows and grabbed him. They pulled him through walls in to different rooms before he could even react. _**"We're NOT done yet!"**_ the voice growled. It finally threw Daniel down the dark corridor.

Daniel stood up and felt the pain around his arm. The knife cut his skin when he fell on the floor. The lights in the corridor turned off one by one. _**"He won't interfere me again!...and he can't help you this time, you little pup!"**_It roared. Daniel backed away until he hit the fire exit door that led to the rooftop... he was cornered. The only way to survive this...was to face this fear. **_"That little knife of yours won't kill me, pup!"_ **the voice jeered harshly. **_"You are always a weak little pup that hides under your father's wings and do nothing! Three years...Three years I watched you from the shadows and all you do was to stay around that silvery subhuman being. You're too scared to face anything at all!"_**

"That's it!" Daniel snapped. "You kept mocking me since I woke up in this godforsaken place, you haunted me every night and you tried to kill me! I'm sick of you! Just get out of here!". The wild golden eyes glinted with fury in the shadow. _**"You wanted to get out of here so badly, don't you? Fine! Let's go out!" **_The big furry beast lunged forward to Daniel and thrust him against the door until it broke down. The beast pinned Daniel on the ground.

There were a few satellites on the rooftop but the area was wide open to the night sky and a very bright full moon. The cold wind howled through the night with the moaning voices from the dead corpses around the building. The scrawny-looking vultures flew around in circles, waiting patiently for the living things on the rooftop to die.

Daniel finally saw the true form of his tormentor. It was a humongous gray wolf with three limbs and exposed rib cage that protruding out like fingers. Three sharp spikes shot out from its shoulders and the beast roared at Daniel, revealing its two rows of sharp fangs. Blood dripped out from its opened abdomen like goo. **_"Remember that, pup? You did that to me with your filthy blood!"_ **It growled, still pinning Daniel firmly on the ground. **_"I'll make sure that 'he' will not bring you back again once you're dead! I'll make certain of that!" _**The beast opened its jaws wide. _**"Good night, pup!"**_

"Not this time!" Daniel hissed and kicked the beast right in the exposed lungs of the beast. It let go of Daniel and roared. The vultures looked at them with hungry red eyes and screeched. Daniel drew the knife out and stood ready. His eyes locked on the red opening on the beast's abdomen. _**"...-ill you! I'LL KILL YOU!" **_The wolf howled madly and charged forward. 'Don't run...Don't run...' Daniel told himself. His instincts yelled at him to run but he ignored it. The wolf leaped forward with its jaws wide. **_"DIE!"_**

Daniel aimed and threw the knife at its guts. It roared in pain as it fell down at Daniel's feet. It stayed motionless on the ground. This was way too easy... He pulled the knife out from its guts and winced. Red blood from the knife dripped to the ground wasn't a pleasant sight to see after a fight. He was about to walked away when he noticed that the vultures were still staring at them. They didn't come down... Daniel gasped. If those scavengers didn't come down, that could only mean-

**_"Where do you think you're going?!"_**The wolf swiftly sprung back up and pulled Daniel away from the door. **_"I'm just getting started!"_** It swiped the knife off his hand and blocked the doorway. _**"You won't run away from me this time, pup!" **_It snarled_** "You have no idea how long I've waited to kill you!"**_ "If you wanted to kill me that badly, why didn't you kill me when I was in that chamber?!" Daniel backed away as the wolf moved towards him. **_"That coward in the chamber won't let me get close to you. After I'm done with you, I'll get rid of that coward and make sure that he will not bring you or anyone back!"_**"Bring me back? So you were talking about him back there. What do you mean 'he'll bring me back'?" **_"ENOUGH! You will have your answers...in Hell!"_**The wolf slammed Daniel at the edge of the building.

_**"I...will be the last thing you see, pup!"**_ it roared. "I don't think so." Daniel yanked the wolf's rib and stabbed its lungs. It howled. Daniel pushed it off the building and got up. He turned around...and saw the wolf leaped upward and landed in front of him. He got a glimpse of the insides of the wolf...and saw that the heart was in there. 'Figures...' Daniel groaned. He had absolutely no idea how to kill this beast. The wolf growled as it headed towards Daniel but it stopped when the ground shook violently. Both Daniel and the wolf were startled to see a giant zombie in a torn blue uniform broke through the wall with a huge club made of human skulls and a long chain in its hands. A familiar dead security guard...

"...Robert?" Daniel gasped. The giant gray skinned security guard grunted and swung the huge club wildly, trying to hit the wolf and Daniel. Lucky for Daniel, he got out of the way in time...and the club hit the wolf right at the jaws. The wolf went berserk and jumped on Robert's torso and ripped his face out. The skin got peeled off, revealing the pale skull underneath. The guard screamed and pried the wolf off his body. **_"Out of my way, you big oaf!" _**The wolf snarled and shoved the guard against the wall. The guard dropped his chain.

'How the heck am I going to beat him?...' Daniel looked at the wolf before him. It turned its attention to Daniel and growled. The eyes were red and full of spite. They didn't look right. The growling ceased and was replaced by..._a whimper_... Daniel was puzzled at first...until he noticed that the sky was getting brighter. That was when he figured it out. All of those times that the wolf whispered to him and tortured him were only in dark places. The real reason why it didn't enter the chamber was because of the bright lights coming from the silver being. It couldn't stay in bright places... 'Dawn is coming...' Daniel smirked. His only plan now was to keep the wolf up here on the rooftop until the sun shows up.

**_"No...NO!"_** the wolf roared at the lights in the sky and started to back away in to the shadows. That was his chance to stop the wolf from escaping. "Where do you think you're going?" Daniel grabbed the chain and snared the wolf's neck. The beast struggled to get out from the chain but the chain became tighter when it moved. _**"L-Let go of me!"**_ it howled in anger...and there was a hint of panic in its voice. That was something new to Daniel. He yanked the wolf out from the shadows and kept it from going back into the shadows. The sunlight started to come out and brought the warm breeze to the top of the building. The fur of the wolf started to burn and it roared louder. The satellites vibrated.

"Guess what...I am the last thing that_ you'll_ see." That was actually meant for Daniel but he said it to the wolf. How ironic... It growled at Daniel and glared at him as its body burned by the sunlight. _**"You're making a terrible mistake, pup! You don't know what is waiting for you in the future...The future...with people like you..." **_With that, the whole body of the wolf turned in to dust and the chain around its neck dropped down on the floor. The vultures let out screech, probably disappointed that there was no corpse for them to eat. The moaning voice caught Daniel's attention. He almost forgot that Robert was there. It didn't make Daniel feel any better to see Robert stared at him with angry white eyes. Robert grabbed his club and headed to Daniel.

"Oh, crud..." Daniel groaned. There was absolutely no way he could fight an 11 feet dead guard. He ran back inside the building. Robert chased him, swinging the club wildly, making huge dents on the walls. The guard followed Daniel in to the chamber. Daniel was cornered. 'Not again...' Daniel froze. He shut his eyes and waited for a painful death. The guard raised its club and swung it down...but it stopped a few inches in front of Daniel.

_"Stop right there, Robert..."_ the silver being pointed at the guard. Its eyes flashed with electricity. _"Didn't I tell you to keep him safe?"_ Robert backed away and lowered his club but still kept an eye on Daniel. The silver being looked satisfied. It turned to Daniel and smirked. _"So, she's gone. Well done. She won't bother you again..." _"You...what...what did you do to Robert?" Daniel glanced at Robert who backed away from Daniel when he came close. The being smiled. _"I brought him back...and gave him a new purpose in his new 'life' that I gave him."_ That rang a bell... The wolf mentioned about this before. Daniel just didn't know that 'brought him back' meant to _'bring a dead person back to life'_... So if he dies...

"You turned Robert into one of those monsters..." Daniel glowered at the being. His hands clenched into fists. "HOW COULD YOU?!" he blurted. The being twitched. _"Perfect beings...are _**_not_**_ monsters, Daniel... They are perfect."_ Then it pointed at Daniel. _"...perfect like you."_ Daniel's eyes widen in shock. "...what?" he gasped.

The being seemed to ignore Daniel for a moment and focus its attention to something else. Its eyes flashed light blue. The control screen in front of the containment showed something. Daniel glanced at the screen.

_SUBJECT:_ **"WORLD" type BETA**, _STATUS:_ **DESTROYED**. _SUBJECT:_ **"MAGICIAN" type 0**, _STATUS:_** IN STASIS. **_**INITIATE SUBJECT IN 1 HOUR.**_

The screen showed the humanoid being with horns and claws in the similar containment. With one look on that being, it gave Daniel chills. The silver being faced Daniel. _"Soon...the problem of the world will be eliminated...and the world...will be perfect." _Daniel couldn't believe it.

He was 'under the protection' of a powerful monster...

* * *

_"...My trust in you...gone."_

_Our friendship is done._

_Friend was history_

_You're my enemy..."_

Year: 1998

"Sophie!" Rogan yelled. G was right behind him, shooting other zombies that were running after them. "Sophie!...Sophie! Where are you?!" Rogan called. He would also look for Roy after he rescued his fiancé. He found her in the room...but she was attacked by a monster that carried a halberd. Both Rogan and G shot it down. After the monster dropped dead, Rogan rushed to Sophie's side. "S-Sophie! Please, don't..." Rogan clasped Sophie in his arms. She weakly spoke to him. "Y-You have to stop Dr. Curien...or something...t-terrible will happen..." she lost conscious.

"...Sophie..." Rogan couldn't believe what he heard. Roy was behind this... He was a nice friend...but Sophie was hurt because of him. "That does it!" Rogan hissed. He left the room with G and headed to the corridor. Friend or not, he must bring Dr. Curien to justice.

**"I'll get you, Curien!"**

**Author's notes: Oh, this is long...I was planning to make it exciting in this chapter but failed miserably. Just to let you guys know that the beast here is called the Moon...that's why it's called Selenophobia for this chapter. More explanations in the next chapter...**

**Sorry to those who are waiting for an update. There are lots of stuff to do here in college...**

**Anyway...Thanks for reviewing and reading...**


	12. Metathesiophobia

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (With all due respect, I don't own it...)**

Chapter 11

_"Farewell, blissful past_

_I know it won't last_

_Hello, cursed future_

_Full of dead creatures..."_

Year: 1998 [Curien Mansion]

Both agents stood on top of the balcony looking at the sky. The so-called masterpiece of Dr. Curien was finally destroyed. Too bad that the crazed scientist...Roy...was killed before Rogan could arrest him. Sophie...Rogan didn't want to think about that... G and Rogan left the mansion. G was about to enter the car when he saw his partner suddenly ran back to the mansion. "What the-?! Rogan!" G ran after him.

'I could swear that I heard her voice calling...' Rogan pushed the door open...he froze. G ran in with his gun ready in his hand. He suddenly stopped and was shocked at what he saw.

Sophie Richards...was still alive. She looked alright...except that terrible looking wound at her right side.

"Sophie..." Rogan hugged her...and sighed in relief. Sophie sobbed. "...Thank you for coming back for me..." she buried her face in his coat. G lowered his gun and smiled. At least Rogan's fiancé survived...Rogan won't have to feel bad like G when he couldn't rescue Varla in time...

The remaining undead from the sewers climbed up the bridge and came after them. Rogan and Sophie saw them. G was already shooting them down. "Do you have an extra gun?" Sophie smirked and extended her hand out to Rogan. He grinned and gave her an extra handgun. The three of them shot the undead down and ran to the car.

"Let's go!"

* * *

_"I watch you, dead world_

_All terror unfurled_

_I looked upon you_

_There's nothing I can do..."_

Year: 2003

The silver being frowned at something. It looked very upset.

**_HOSTILES DETECTED. _**_IDENTIFYING_**_... AMS Agents. AGENT KATE GREEN._**_ THREAT LEVEL:_**_ Medium. AGENT "G". _**_THREAT LEVEL:_**_ EXTREMELY DANGEROUS._**

**_MAGICIAN type 0 CLONNING COMPLETION 87%..._**

_"Interlopers...are unacceptable." said the silver being. __**INITIATING MAGICIAN type 0 IN 20 MINUTES...**_

The screen showed the location of the subject and thousands of those dead corpses walking around another place. Another place...another place infested with these monsters... '...Is that Venice?!' Daniel peered at the screen. All the destruction and dead bodies on the ground spooked him out. The screen suddenly shutted down when there was a man in blue suit and a woman in red jacket appeared in the screen. The silver being was staring blankly at Daniel.

_"Everything is going according to the plan. You are now safe. Eliminating the 'threat' is now the main objective." _"Threat?" Daniel didn't like what he heard. His eyes locked on the being and it gave him a stern look. "What threat?" Daniel asked even though he knew what would be the answer. The screen in front of him opened again and showed the video of the civilizations around the world under attack. There were people running away from the similar monsters in the facility. The screen zoomed to all the civillians. _"Humans." _The being answered, pointing at the screen.

"What?!" Daniel gasped. The being ignored Daniel's reactions and averted its gaze on something else. _"This is not unexpected that you will not understand my objective."_ "Aren't I a human being?" Daniel winced. Then there was a scary thought. If he isn't a human being...then what is he?! _"You are far superior than them."_ the silver being didn't give him a direct answer. _"These imperfect beings called 'humans' are not aware that they are causing problems to the world... This world is overpopulated by them. This is not a world for the perfect beings. They must be destr-"_

"Stop it! You can't do this! You can't just-..." Daniel blurted out, hands clutched in to fists. This silver being kept talking about perfect beings but Daniel couldn't understand it. What did it mean when it said 'perfect'? More importantly...what made it think that it can do this? "What are you?!"

The being glowered. The lights in the chamber seemed to flicker and the entire chamber got warmer within seconds. The dead guard looked scared as it backed away from the containment. That was unlike Robert.

The being identified itself._ "I am the creator of the new world...The endless cycle of life and death...The hope of all perfect beings...The overseer of every life form that walks on this planet...__**I am the Wheel of Fate**__."_

That name was familiar although Daniel couldn't tell where he heard about it. Suddenly, many hidden screens from the walls flipped open, showing each section in the facility and revealing what was happening to the world. Daniel glanced from one screen to another...and realized that it had been watching the world and this entire facility the whole time. It was playing God...taking away lives and making new ones from those corpses.

"N-no..." Daniel froze. The whole world turned in to a new level of nightmare. It turned in to something else that he didn't recognize at all. Perfect world, the Wheel of Fate claimed... Perfect _Hell_. "W-why?...Why did you-" he stammered. The Wheel of Fate blinked. _"Why?...For you, of course."_ it replied. "What?!" That caught Daniel off guard. It continued _"The world's current problems are beyond control. Destruction is the only way to erase all of them and let the perfect world rise from its ashes. You...belong in the new world that I will create."_

"You're making a new hell on earth. I won't stay in it." Daniel hissed at it. A glimpse of anger flashed in its eyes. _"You will not survive with out my help. You need me, Daniel."_ "...and who says I need you? You're no different than the other creatures in this place. I should have realized that." Daniel turned away from the being.

_"You will not leave this facility, Daniel. There's a reason for you being here and I will not let you to simply walk away."_ "Yeah?! Watch me leave!" Daniel walked towards the door...but Robert suddenly blocked the way out and snarled menacingly. Daniel took a step back. The Wheel of Fate stared at Daniel with fury_. "Oh, I highly doubt that. You can try but I am certain that you can't run from a dead guard..." _The Wheel of Fate smirked_. "...or to be precise...you can't outrun __**Death**__..."_

Death. That was probably the most terrifying name around and it fitted Robert's grim appearance. He stared at Daniel with plain white eyes. The Wheel of Fate was right. He couldn't run away from a dead guard. He knew every inch of this facility so there was absolutely no way to outrun him.

_"Don't even try to contact anyone outside like others...any attempt to make contact is futile."_ The last hope from getting help from the outside world was taken away but it wasn't quite surprising since the world is in chaos. Those words rang a bell. "You...jammed the signal in Allan's cellphone, didn't you...?" It just stared at him. Daniel just presumed that means 'yes, it did'.

The screen flared red and the Wheel of Fate seemed to be very disappointed.

_SUBJECT:_ **MAGICIAN type 0.** _STATUS:_ **DESTROYED.** _HOSTILES:_ **AGENT KATE GREEN and AGENT "G". **_HOSTILES' STATUS: _**MINOR INJURIES**.** OTHER HOSTILES DETECTED...CONFIRMED. AMS AGENTS**. _**INITIATE ALL SUBJECTS IN 2 MINUTES... **_

While the Wheel of Fate was still distracted by the hostiles known as AMS, Daniel slowly moved towards the panel to disable its commands when Death grabbed his neck and pinned him against the wall. The Wheel of Fate stared at Daniel. _"What a shame. I did you a favor...yet you are not even grateful about it." _"By...k-killing everything on...s-sight?! Y-you call that a..._favor?!_" Daniel choked out as Death tighten his grip around his neck. An electrical wave ran through the floor and shocked Death making it howled in pain. It released its grip from Daniel. _"If you harm him again, I'll disintegrate you in to a pile of ashes."_ The Wheel of Fate hissed.

_"You cannot stop me, Daniel...and you never will."_ Daniel couldn't agree more on that. He can't stop the Wheel of Fate with Death around. Even if Death wasn't around, he had no idea how to destroy it if he disrupted its program. In short...he couldn't destroy it alone. He pressed himself against the wall...the feeling of hopelessness was killing him slowly.

There was nothing he can do...

* * *

...Year: 2019

Many years passed and Daniel began to lose hope. The last time he saw the sun was ten years ago. Thanks to those darn vultures that kept flying around the facility, Daniel couldn't go out to even have a glimpse of the sky. Heck, they even waited for him in front of the door. It was a torture to be in this place like a prisoner.

There were times that he wanted to kill himself...but he didn't. Who would stop the Wheel of Fate? ...but then, no one will anyway. Death never let Daniel out of its sight anyway so it can stop Daniel from killing himself. No one would come here to help. Nobody knows that he was here. He doubted there are any human left at this point with those monsters walking around the world, killing everything on sight.

Speaking of monsters, the Wheel of Fate seemed to change them. They didn't attack Daniel when he was spotted in the hallway. In fact, they even backed away from him when he passed by but he could tell from their eyes that they wanted to devour him, especially the cryo-lifs...those scrawny blue creatures that butchered the survivors.

The Wheel of Fate didn't change that much. It still have that same humanoid features with silver complexion and spikes from its elbows. There were metallic spikes hidden around the chamber. He saw them a few years earlier. It was making something sinister no doubt. It stared at Daniel whenever he passed by. Daniel had been watching it since then. It never showed Daniel what happened to the world again after 2003. What appeared on those screens were mostly about the previous monsters that were defeated by a group of agents called...AMS. Daniel just assumed that they are all dead now.

Daniel didn't know why he always comes back to this room in the hallway... The same room that the survivors hid from the horrors around the facility. Even though he knew that they died years ago, he still went back to that same place where he found them. Those researchers... Terrance, Sarah, Stephen...and Allan. He kept telling himself that they're gone but he didn't know why he always went there. There was that feeling that he expect to see them there, waiting for him... It must be loneliness. The blood stains on the floor faded away as years passed but the echoes of their screams were still there. The room was almost empty. There were a few chairs and a dusty desk at the corner of the room.

Daniel sat at the corner of the room. He thought he saw Allan covered in blood at the other corner, staring at him. He must be going crazy... Daniel sighed and shut his eyes.

..._bang...bang...bang_...

At first he thought that he was just hearing things but then...he realized that those noises are real. _Guns._

They were getting louder and louder until he heard the scream. 'There are people in here?!' Daniel got up and ran down the hallway. When he passed the hallway, he saw dead monsters. A short glance on their body showed that they were shot. He also saw a dead commando that he didn't recognize. Daniel followed the trail of dead bodies and realized that they led to the Wheel of Fate's chamber. He ran back to the chamber as fast as he could. That person didn't know that Death was guarding the chamber.

When Daniel finally reached the place, he was already too late. Another commando lied on the floor, presumably dead. A man in brown jacket was knocked unconscious by Death. Death was about to hit him again with the club. There was only one thing that Daniel could think of. He rushed in and stopped in front of the man. The club almost hit Daniel. Death stared at Daniel, confused.

"Stay away from him." Daniel said with a stern voice. The Wheel of Fate was fumed. **_"What are you doing?! Step aside, Daniel!"_**"No!" **_"STEP ASIDE...NOW!". _**"Make me."

The tension in the room made Death growled menacingly and it raised the club up high, ready to hit Daniel. Daniel didn't run away. "You can't hurt me." he spoke. Death stared at Daniel for a long time. Finally, it backed away and left the chamber. Daniel turned around and looked at the man. He was badly injured. _"Why are you helping an inferior being, Daniel? He's no use to you and I." _The Wheel of Fate sounded mad when he asked. "He is NOT an inferior being. You are." Daniel hissed. The Wheel of Fate glowered.

Daniel moved closer to the unconscious man. He slowly came to conscious and saw Daniel in front of him. His eyes went wide in surprise. "...You!" he gasped. "You're-". He seemed to recognize Daniel. "It's alright, sir. You're sa-" Daniel stopped dead when the man aimed the shotgun at him. "Back off, _Curien!_" he barked. Daniel blanched. "W-wait! I-I just wanted to help-"

The man pulled the trigger.

* * *

(Back in 2000 in Goldman's office...)

_"First off, I just wanted to congratulate you. Don't worry, it's not my wish to destroy the world with nuclear missiles. I don't want to kill all humans. I merely wish to revert them to their natural state... However, Pandora's box has been opened. There's nothing I can do to stop it."_ Goldman stood up and turned to the window behind his desk. _"If you were able to make it this far, there is yet still hope..."_

He watched his beloved world and the city in ruins and sighed. Humans have done so much damage to this beautiful world... They'll soon pay for what they've done. The recording was almost done...but there was something he need to tell those meddling agents...If they survive the Emperor's wrath and the coming event that he had set...He hoped that they would understand his intention.

Then he remembered... There was somebody trying to call him a few weeks ago but the signal was lost. Took him a while to track it but he finally found the location where the call was made... The EFI Research Facility... He was glad to know that the rest of his researchers are still alive in there along with Dr. Curien's main project and his precious little boy... safe and sound. That...was what he will tell them...to give them hope after the 'new' world.

"Ah, yes, there's one thing I almost forgot. The human race has not been eliminated." Goldman turned to the recorder on his desk. He knew that the end is coming. The AMS agents couldn't be far. Goldman smiled to the recorder as he gave the final message.

"Travel north... _Hope_ is such a splendid thing..."

**Author's notes: I know that the recording is in the fourth installment but come to think about it...I think Goldman recorded that in 2000. Well...he said that 'everything is set' all the time and 'all he has to do is wait'.**

**I have no excuses...This story was way longer than expected. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I might write something about Curien's notes later...I 'might', since everyone seemed to wonder what's in there...**

**Thanks for the views and reviews as always.**


	13. Wounded

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (With all due respect, I don't own it...again.)**

Chapter 12

_"I know who you are_

_I see you from afar_

_I see him in you_

_I hope that's not true..."_

Year: 2019

...He missed. The bullet didn't hit Daniel.

Rogan could swear that he saw the Wheel of Fate flinched when the he pulled the trigger. It gave him a cold glare... A glare that he found quite familiar. The pain hit him again, causing him to recoil. When he saw the blood all over his chest, he groaned. 'Just my damn luck...' Rogan winced when he tried to get up. He would not go down easily just because of some dumb giant guard hit him against the wall. He noticed that the young man tried to approach him again.

"P-please. Let me help you." Daniel knelt down beside Rogan and checked for other injuries. "Back off!" Rogan blurted out and pointed the gun at Daniel again. There was absolutely no way he would let this guy touch him. He never felt so vulnerable before and he hated that feeling. Something wasn't right for Rogan. The big monster with a giant club just hit him to the wall a while ago...how did this guy came in _unharmed? _Either the monster ignored him which was highly impossible or this guy was the one who caused all this madness..._like Curien..._'No! This _CAN'T_ be _him_! He's long _dead_!' Rogan shook off that thought. '...Then why does he looked like_...him?_'

The Wheel of Fate was still staring at the injured agent. From its expression, Rogan could tell that it was satisfied that the intruder was hurt badly...but at the same time fumed with rage when it saw the intruder pointed the gun at this guy. The only thing that Rogan was glad about was that it did not come out to kill him.

"Stay still! You'll hurt yourself." Daniel warned but that didn't work and was pushed away when he went too close. Rogan was still aiming the gun at Daniel, refusing to let his guard down. Before Rogan could say anything, both Daniel and Rogan heard moaning sound coming from everywhere. A short glance at the screens, they saw teams of dead commados rose up from the ground, pulled out their combat knives and headed straight to the chamber.

Rogan uttered a curse. Daniel glared at the Wheel of Fate. He knew that the silver being did all of this. Now it sent those commados to get them...'...or is it just coming for this man?' Daniel thought. Either that, he had to get him out. "That's just...damn wonderful." Rogan grumbled. He didn't think that his life was going to end so soon. The creatures that he and his team encountered were completely different from the ones he encountered years ago. It was as if they are getting tougher and..._smarter_. They ambushed his teams and took them down one by one. They seemed numberless...but that wasn't the thing that surprised him. This facility belonged to DBR corp. so there are always lots of monsters coming out to kill. It was this young man that surprised him. There weren't supposed to be anyone in here...unless he was the one responsible for this.

"We have to get out of here." Daniel told Rogan. "Tell me something that I don't know, _Curien_." Rogan spat. He still didn't understand it himself why he kept calling this young man that name. 'He looked like him..._no!_' Rogan ignored that thought. Daniel sighed quietly. Another guy who had a bad history with his father again. Still, he had to keep him safe from the incoming undead. The problem was that no matter what he did to calm Rogan down, Rogan won't let Daniel touch him. A crazy idea came to Daniel but since he had no other options left, that had to do.

"I...I'm so sorry." Whatever the reason it was, those words ticked Rogan off. "Sorry? _**Sorry?! **_What are you babbling about?! Sorry for what?!" Rogan roared. The wounds and the feeling of being defeated fueled his anger. Daniel raised his fist up. "...for _this_." He threw a punch at Rogan.

...

Rogan woke up in a dim lighted room. He never felt so dizzy in his life. He glanced around and noticed that he was on sitting on the chair right in the middle of the room. Behind him, there was a desk with papers all over it. He yelped in pain when he moved. Rogan heard the door opened and saw Daniel walked in with something in his hand. Rogan suspected that it must be a weapon.

"Oh, you're awake. Sorry that I hit you but that was the only way I could move you out from there without making you-" Daniel was interrupted by Rogan's rage "**You!** How dare you! I'm going to kill you for this!" "I...doubt that you can do that in your current condition." Daniel sighed. "I brought you out of that chamber, nearly got myself killed and went though the messy hallway to get this thing and you wanted to kill me?" Before Rogan could respond, Daniel unrolled the object in his hand. A bandage.

"Stay still this time. I don't want that wound of yours to open any wider than this. You'll bleed to death if the wound isn't treated soon." Rogan turned completely stiff when he heard the last sentence. It came like an echo from the past. _That worried expression on his face as he pointed at Rogan's leg_. _'Agent Rogan will bleed to death if the wound isn't treated soon...' Roy... the person he helped out of that forsaken building... a friend. Then Sophie screamed for help... That person...that sick bastard that he called a friend hurt his fiance and was responsible for the deaths of many DBR researchers...he stood there, laughing... That worried expression... "...you'll bleed to death if the wound isn't treated soon..."_

"...I'm...not going to die, _Roy_..." Rogan murmured. "...What?" Daniel stopped. No one ever called his father 'Roy' before. He began to wonder whether this guy was his father's friend or foe. Rogan was surprised himself that he said those words. When he saw Daniel looking at him, he winced. "...What are you looking at?!" "...Nothing." Daniel replied. "Just stay still and let me wrap that wound of yours." Rogan glared at Daniel for a moment...then he looked the other way. As Daniel was wrapping the wounds, Rogan did his best to held back his urge to scream. He was completely stiff.

A few minutes later, Daniel walked to the door and peeked through the glass. There was nothing in the hallway. Still, he could feel that the Wheel of Fate was watching him. It must be very furious now. What surprised him though was that those commandos stopped coming for them. At least the guy that he helped was safe...for now. He didn't say a word and always kept his eyes on Daniel.

The silence in the room was very strange. Two men sitting in silence and looking at one another as if they were going to read each other's minds. Rogan, especially Rogan, never took his cold stare off Daniel. Daniel, on the other hand, was feeling very nervous from the way Rogan stare but he did his best not to show it. No one spoke a word for a long time until it felt like hours. 'This is getting old. I even feel older myself...' Daniel frowned. If a person died out of boredom, he won't find that ridiculous anymore.

"Why did you help me?" Rogan finally said something. He probably had the same thought like Daniel about boredom...or something was bothering him so bad that he had to ask. Daniel tilted his head slightly. "You needed help." he answered. The same angry voice came from Rogan again. "I don't need _**your **_help! The last thing I need is to be helped by the person who cause this madness and kill my commandos!" "What made you think that I caused all of this? I did not tell those monsters to kill your commandos."

"There weren't supposed to be any survivors left in the place at this point. Either my Intel was wrong or you're the one who created this chaos and let your creations destroy everyone while you hid in your damn lab!" Rogan pulled out a handgun from holster beside his belt and aimed at Daniel...again. 'Geez, how many firearms does this man have with him?' Daniel sighed.

"...sir. Put that gun away." Daniel said with a calm voice. "Give me a good reason why I should listen to you." Rogan spat. Daniel frowned slightly. In less than twenty-four hours, he felt tired of this man's hot temper. "I can give you three reasons for that. First, that's not a good way to repay someone who helped you. I'm not your enemy here. Second, if I die, no one will help you destroy the Wheel of Fate. And for the third reason..." a high pinch screech echoed from the air vents and interrupted Daniel. Rogan glanced around the room. "...oh, no." Daniel looked at the vents. What did the Wheel of Fate send to finish them this time?

The vents shook and a small group of bats flew out for Rogan. "What the?!" Rogan fired the bats. They dropped down on the floor. The last and the smallest of them hid in the dark. It stared at Rogan and Daniel with glowing red eyes. It screeched. "Got you now..." Rogan grinned. The bat suddenly flew out from the dark and headed towards the lights. Rogan fired...but it hit the lights, making the entire room consumed by darkness. "...Oh, great..." Daniel heard Rogan grumbled. A few seconds later, the emergency lights around the room lighted up but they didn't help that much. The last bat was out of sight but both of them knew that it was still in the room.

"And here I thought that those darn vultures outside were bad enough..." Rogan sighed, still glancing around for the last bat. Daniel's eyes widen when he saw it. He pointed. "Sir, it's right b..." **"Shut up and stay alert!** It might attack us at any moment!" Rogan hissed. Daniel saw it. It was climbing up Rogan's back. It looked like it was going to bite his neck. Rogan won't even listen to him anyway so Daniel had to make his move...again. Rogan saw that Daniel was looking at him. "What are you staring at?" Then he realized that Daniel wasn't really looking at him... 'Oh, don't tell me...'

"Don't make any sudden move..." Daniel whispered as he quietly stepped closer to Rogan, trying not to alert the bat. It was then when Rogan got a glimpse of the pointy wings beside his own neck and he forgot to breathe. Right before the bat strikes, Daniel snatched its wings and stepped away from Rogan. It bit Daniel's hand, broke free from his grip and landed on the desk. It growled at Rogan. "That sneaky little-" Rogan snarled and pulled the trigger.

...no bullets.

"Oh, shoot..." Rogan groaned. 'Why the hell do these things keep happening to me?!'

The bat lunged at Rogan but was stabbed by Daniel. The bat died.

"That...that was close..." Daniel panted. Blood oozed out from the bite marks and down to the knife. Rogan still eyed on the knife that buried in to the dead mammal. '...I knew it that he was armed...but why did he-?' There were doubts and confusion in Rogan's mind. He first suspected that this lad was responsible for all of the madness around the facility...but he saved his life. Twice, if the lad really saved him from that giant guard.

It made no sense at all. If this man didn't cause the madness...then it must be the...the one that he and his team was after... 'How did it do that when it is in that containment?...' Rogan pondered. '...and why is this young man over here is still alive in this facility filled with these monsters? Was he actually involve in this madness or just another victim?...and why does he looked like...oh, I have to stop thinking about that.'

"Are you alright?" Daniel asked while covering his wound with the bandage. "Well, I'm still alive." Rogan answered. He tried to get up but then he flinched and dropped back to his seat. "...and in pain." Daniel frowned at that. "Well, sorry about that. I wish I could help you more but all I could find around here was this ba-" Then there were some noises echoed from the vent again. Both men turned their heads towards the vent. "What?! There are more coming?!" Rogan looked a bit shocked. His gun ran out of bullets and he doesn't think that his own combat knife won't help him that much either.

The noises stopped. Rogan was still keeping his eyes on the vents but Daniel looked somewhere else. That feeling came back again. The feeling of being watched. It didn't come from the vents. It felt like the Wheel of Fate was watching them from the walls and the ceiling. "...it stopped. That...can't be good." Rogan's voice shook a bit. It was a long silence...until the noises went away from the opening. "Whatever that was, it's gone...but I suspect that it'll be back." Rogan said. Daniel knew what it was. He walked towards the door. "I'll be right back."

"?! Where are you going?! There are many of those things out there!" there was concern in Rogan's voice. He wondered to himself why should he worry about this young stranger. "I'll be fine. I'll explain everything when I come back." Daniel left.

Rogan was puzzled for a moment. 'What the?! It was as if he wasn't afraid of those things...' Rogan sighed. This was quite similar to the events that happened to him long ago. It was like déjà vu all over again. He lost his team, couldn't contact anyone, left in the building filled with foul creatures and stuck with a mysterious guy. "Oh, man...What did I do to deserve this?" Rogan groaned. He glanced at the desk again and saw something. He looked closer. He realized that those papers were about the creatures in the facility. "Well...what do we have here?" He carefully reached for those papers and glanced at them.

There were notes and photos of the creatures with their 'enhancement' status. There was a photo of the creature that he assumed to be a sloth, labeled "F-type 0028". He continued reading.

_**"F-type 0028"**_

_"This subject was slow and not very active. After adding the speed enhancement in its DNA code, it has improved immensely but with some downsides. Metabolism rate also increased, therefore making the subject hungry all the time and started to behave aggressively. Its heighten senses seemed to improve as well, especially its sense of touch and hearing. We have to 'blind' the subject due to its rising aggressiveness every time it sees human._

_To subdue the subject, always strike at the hands and feet. Those seems to be the sensitive spot fot it."_

_**"S-type 8830"**_

_"The subject was dying when it was brought in. Following Dr. Curien's instructions, we managed to bring it back to life. (He seemed to like this pink lotus.) Later, we studied its ability to regenerate. Took us months to enhance it. It was beautiful beyond words. Another observation on the flower was that it could now adapt to any environment._

_Notes: Four months after we enhanced the lotus, it grew into a gigantic tree about seventeen to eighteen feet tall. It had been evolving by spreading its roots out and absorbed the near by plants. To our horror, it absorbed the extract of the Willow tree that we collected and 'Dionaea muscipula'__the carnivorous plant. It also grew tentacles that always move around to snatch anyone who gets too close._

_To subdue the subject, strike at its roots, the tip of the tentacles and the parasitic worm that hides in the pink lotus."_

...and there were more papers to these horrifying experiments that the researchers worked here. Rogan sighed put the papers back on the desk...then he saw a notebook underneath other research papers. He flipped the notebook open...and his eyes went wide. He recognized those handwritings... He saw the same handwritings on the research papers and notes that other AMS agents confiscated from the mansion... This notebook...belonged to...

"...Roy."

**Author's small note: As you can see, the title is no longer related to phobias... That doesn't mean the story is over. Geez...what is in that notebook, you ask? ...It's a secret so I'll keep my mouth sealed.**

**Note: writing a story/chapter while being sick is a bad move so don't do it.**

**Stuff and projects are finally done! (Thank goodness and badness!) Now I have more time to do other stuff and this.**

**Thanks to you all for still reading this...and still review it.**


	14. Compassionate Eagle

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related to House of the Dead. (No one is reading this anymore...)**

Chapter 13

_"Behind vile creations..._

_There were good intentions._

_Behind this evil doer..._

_There was a good father._

_Behind his aggressiveness..._

_He suffered loneliness._

_Behind his insanity..._

_He longed for his family._

_It was more than he can bear..._

_It was certainly unfair._

_He's gone now...forever_

_Rest, my friend...good doctor."_

* * *

_September 17, 1985_

_'...I considered myself to be the luckiest and happiest man alive. I have a lovely wife and a beautiful son. A man couldn't ask for anything better than this...'_

* * *

Back in the chamber, Daniel was pinned down on the cold floor by Rogan's commandos with their combat knives pointed at his neck. The Wheel of Fate glared at Daniel with fury. The entire room flared with electricity that almost looked like it had power surge.

_"You are wrong, Daniel. Humans are nothing but a thorn to the side of this new world. Their pathetic existence will be wiped out from the surface of the world so they will not repeat their foolish mistakes to the world again."_

"Overpopulation or not, you can't just destroy everything! They are not the threat here. The actual threat to this world...is YOU!" Daniel hissed. One of the commandos pressed the knife at Daniel's neck. _"...wwrroooongg..."_ it groaned.

* * *

_December 11, 1985_

_'We stayed inside the mansion the whole day, thanks to the snow. Daniel was so glad that I did not left to work. He was bouncing on my lap, begging me to read the "Basic Biology" book that he found in those old bookshelves. Imagine how I reacted to that. It was still early in the morning so a few pages won't do any harm._

_Katherine found us dosing off on the sofa in the afternoon. (She 'laughed'...) How embarrassing.'_

_January 24, 1986_

_'...sometimes I thought of resigning my career. However, Goldman insisted me to stay. He didn't tell me the reason why. _

_...Everything was pleasant. I'm sure that this is what every man wants. An easy life with his family. Daniel always makes me proud and always brings joy to my life...just like Katherine. I always tell him that...'_

* * *

_"You disappointed me, Daniel. I expected you to understand this. You already saw the problems caused by humans...saw their mistakes...and yet you kept one alive."_ the Wheel of Fate spoke with a menacing tone. Death came in the chamber with the giant club in its hand. Its eyes went wide at the sight of blood at Daniel's neck.

_"You call me a monster...have you ever stop to think for just one moment just who is the real monster on this world? Humans are nothing more than a greedy and destructive specie. They thought that they're so perfect. They thought that they control everything. Look at them... Look at what came after that. Natural disasters, new diseases and wars. Disasters after disasters hit them and who do they blame? They fought each other to claim whatever they thought they own. They destroyed the world...and they will get what they deserved..."_

* * *

_March 11, 1986_

_'...took me a few minutes to calm Daniel down after he had nightmares. I'm glad that I was close by. Last time, it took Katherine a while to calm him down. The other night he couldn't sleep. I decided to take him to the balcony and watch the stars. He was so lucky that he spotted a shooting star so...as silly as this sounds...I told him to make a wish. To my surprise, he didn't make any wishes. He told me "I have everything I need here.". I could swear I almost cry. That was some long night...but it was a good one._

_This made me wonder...what would he wish for in the future...?'_

* * *

"I'm not...going to let you...or your mindless monsters...have him!" Daniel paused for a moment. Actually, the Wheel of Fate could send anything in and dragged the injured man out from that room anytime they want like the bats. If that was the case...then why didn't the Wheel of Fate just do it. What was it waiting for?

_"You are making this complicated for me, Daniel."_ the Wheel of Fate growled. The metallic spikes around the room rattled, making some of the dead commandos looked uneasy. _"That man...particularly him...will give you nothing but pain. Do not make this anymore complicated and give him to me."_

* * *

_September 11, 1988_

_'...Genome codes. What was Goldman thinking?! He must be out of his mind or something. He called me and other scientists to a meeting. Those incompetent fools didn't even know how dangerous it is to tamper with this subject. I was the first to decline the invitation to this project. He claimed that this will help humanity to 'understand' the world better. He is an expert alright but human genome codes? Forget it. One slight mistake and it would be no different from committing a murder...What even surprised me though was that he weren't the only one...'_

* * *

Never. If it demanded for submission, he won't give in. There would be no one would stop its malicious plan. _"I'm trying to help you, Daniel. If you know what is good for you-"_

"No. I won't let you get him!" Daniel blurted. The commandos slowly backed out when Death came closer. The spikes started to vibrate violently and spark of electricity flashed around them. _"Daniel...you don't even know him."_ the lights flared from the Wheel of Fate's eyes with fury.

* * *

_November 29, 1988_

_'...something wasn't right. Daniel was sick for months. MONTHS. The most frustrating thing was that those doctors kept telling me the same answers that they have no clue what was wrong with him. Andrew was getting worried about me. I could tell that from the way he approached me the other day. Katherine was also worried for both of us... She even went out to town to get some meds...'_

* * *

The commandos were close to the door, still staring at the rattling metallic spikes that threaten to impale anything that get too close. Death wasn't scared of them though. It stood there between Daniel and the containment with unreadable expression on its face.

"Do you?" Daniel asked back. The Wheel of Fate looked very stiff like a statue with its cold gaze at Daniel. _"He...is among those humans who are here to stop me."_ it answered bitterly. "...then we're on the same page." Daniel smirked. That enraged the silver being.

_"For the last time, Daniel! If you do not-"_

"No! You don't have the power over me! You don't tell me what to do! You're not my father!" Daniel blurted out at the being. The Wheel of Fate looked disappointed. The metallic spikes around the room ceased to rattle and the lights dimmed.

_"Am I not, Daniel?"_

Daniel froze. He recognized that voice very well...

* * *

_February 24, 1989_

_'Katherine, I'm so sorry. I should have been there...'_

* * *

Daniel stared at the Wheel of Fate, confused. Part of him screamed that he shouldn't believe it...but that voice, he recognized it very well. The same voice that happily greeted him when he was young, the same voice that assured him that he will get well soon and that he shouldn't be scared. Now, it was just confusing him.

"Is...is that really you?"

_"...you don't recognize me, Daniel?"_

_..._no.

* * *

_February 26, 1989_

_'Why, why, why, why...'_

* * *

"I...don't understand." there were lots of questions in his mind but he wasn't sure which one he should asked.

_"Soon you will, Daniel. For the time being, just know that I-"_

"-did all of this for me?!" Daniel snapped. This was getting sick but it became clearer. Why he ended up here, why the Wheel of Fate kept him alive... He was sick...dying...and millions of people were killed because of him. His father...if that silver being really is his father-no. His father was better than that. He wouldn't... If he really loved his son...he should have...

"...you should have let me go..."

* * *

_March 26, 1990_

_'...Daniel...He was so scared...and cold. His condition... I've never see anything like this. There was nothing I can do...'_

* * *

_"That was not meant to be your fate."_

"That's not for you to decide what my fate will be!" Daniel stared coldly at the being. It stared back.

_"Daniel...I-"_

"Stop! Just...stop it! I should have realized this long ago! I should have never trusted you!"

* * *

_October 13 ,1990_

_'...Louisiana. The warden there showed us the lab. To be frank, I was quite surprised to see it still standing after the cold war. The equipment around here was terrible but that was not why we were there._

_What the warden did here was beyond disturbing. Countless bodies littered around and the prisoners were in bad shape. Prisoners...he used prisoners! I doubt that he was going to stop there. Variety is important, he said, to get the best results. So far, his 'results' ended up dead or in a miserable state due to the condition of the lab. He didn't tell us what would be his next move to do with the formula but he said that he will find a way to make the formula perfect. Goldman seemed to be interested in this formula so much that he asked to see the files._

_Unfortunately, the warden didn't have all of it. Some files were missing and he asked his accomplice to help him figure it and refine it. Dangerous, I have to say. This would bring science in to a whole new level._

_The Formula X...I once told myself that I won't be involve in the most dangerous subject...but this time was different. I had no choice...'_

* * *

"You cornered the survivors, took their chances of escaping, sent the monsters to kill them all and wiped off civilization...just for me?! You cold-blooded killer!"

_"Daniel..."_

"I HATE YOU! I swear I'll be the one to destroy you!"

* * *

_February 18, 1994_

_'...Andrew was missing and I couldn't find him or contacted him._

_...Goldman promised me that he will keep this project a secret although I have a bad feeling about this. The researchers did their job pretty well...except this particular woman called Sophie Richards..._

_...I brought Daniel to the EFI facility. Technologies are more advance there and I hoped that he will recover soon. He would be safer there...'_

* * *

The Wheel of Fate was shocked. Its eyes went wide and still couldn't believe what it heard. The shock...was replaced by an intense fury. The commandos now stared at Daniel with a creepy grin on their decayed face. Death turned towards Daniel and went berserk.

**_"GET HIM!"_** The Wheel of Fate roared.

* * *

_October 24, 1995_

_'...mas Rogan! I never thought that I would see him again. I...was glad to see him. It had been a while since we met. I couldn't remember the last time I met other people aside from Goldman and his associate... I forgot how long the conversation was...Rogan told me that he was engaged. ENGAGED! I saw the ring. It...looked exactly like what I gave to Katherine...'_

(Rogan was shocked.)

_'...and the look on his face. Damn. He was happy. Damn it! Damn it all-...'_

* * *

Daniel ran down the hall way. Death was chasing him like a mad cow, swinging the club around. The commandos were trying to avoid being hit and chased Daniel with an alarming speed. The dead around the hallway even chased him when they saw Daniel. Groans and growls filled the air. Commandos threw their combat knives at Daniel but they missed. Death swatted the commandos aside and ran after Daniel.

'Fine. Just you and me then...' Daniel ran to the west wing of the facility. Death was still following him, roaring its head off. The lights in the corridor blinked rapidly as Daniel ran. All of the sudden, Death ran through the walls and grabbed Daniel. It raised him to its eye level and opened it mouth wide.

'Sorry, Robert...' Daniel pulled the knife out and plunged it in Death's white face and slit the jaws open. Death howled in pain and cupped his now bloody red jaws. Its skin dropped on the floor and attracted other undead that were following. Death furiously swung its club, trying to hit Daniel but it hit an Ebitan instead. The end of the corridor was the door leading out to the bridge between buildings.

When Daniel swung the door open, the vultures swooped down immediately. "What the-?!" Daniel avoided the talons. Death's frightening roar echoed behind the door and without a warning, Death tore the door and the wall open. The debris flew in all directions and hit most of the vultures. What a bad timing. Daniel was in the middle of the narrow bridge when Death rushed forward. In the opposite direction, the vultures went frenzy and swooped down towards Daniel. He had to act fast.

'I must be crazy...' Daniel frowned as he ran towards Death. Before Death reached out its hand to snatch him, Daniel slid through its legs. At the same time, the vultures swooped down but they hit Death in the face, causing it to lost its balance and tumbled down from the narrow bridge. Its roared faded for a moment, followed by a loud thud that sound metallic.

Daniel glanced down from the bridge. Death seemed to fall in to the tubes that led to the sewers outside of the building. It won't bother Daniel and the injured man for a while-... Daniel almost forgot about him. He ran back inside the building...

* * *

_November 19, 1997_

_'I missed them so much. Katherine, I really missed you. I wished that our son will recover soon... I really want all of you to see my work. It was...brilliant.'_

_February 24, 1998_

_'We'll be a family again. I promised.'_

* * *

...Rogan closed the notebook. He sat there in silence, still stunned by what he just read. What should he feel about this? His friend wasn't a complete lunatic. He was like any other man who would do anything to protect the one he loves. This made Rogan felt ashamed a bit that he didn't spent more time with his family...but he have to do his job to protect them.

'Wait...Roy mentioned about his son, Daniel that he brought to this facility...' Realization hit Rogan. 'So that young man is-...!'

Daniel came in and shut the door. Rogan looked alarmed at first but then he sighed. "Well? Care to explain what happened to you?." "Ghh...give me a minute." Daniel was panting hard. "Take your time. I can't go leave anyway." Rogan muttered, still observing Daniel. 'I guess that was the reason why he looked like Roy...'

A few minutes later, Daniel sat down at the corner, exhausted. "You alright?" Rogan asked, cut the silence in the room. "Why care for me all of the sudden? Didn't you want to kill me a while ago?" "People change. I'm sure you know that well." Rogan smirked. "Now, where were you?" Right...straight to the point...

"I went back to place where I found you." Daniel answered. "I...know that you're here to destroy the Wheel of Fate. If you're asking me why I didn't destroy it before...It was because of the guard that hit you. He won't let me get near the controls. Other monsters also walked around the place like the guard." Rogan remained silent.

"The Wheel of Fate has to be destroyed. It's still in developing state. If it is complete, it will be free and worse...out of this facility and create the so-called 'new world' without humans. God only knows what that being is capable of with its full potential. I..." Daniel hung his head. "We're stuck in here."

"I don't think so. Soon or later, we'll be out of here." Rogan said. "How exactly are we going to get out of here? Your commandos are all dead, you're hurt and we're cornered." Daniel sighed. Rogan ignored that. "There're some people...waiting for me to come back. I lost contact with them a moment ago...They'll come looking for me. Then, you can get the heck out of here." He thought of his daughter, Lisa, and his wife, Sophie. They would be so worried about him now, especially his daughter. "Yeah, sure." Daniel didn't look convinced. He avoided eye contact with Rogan for a long time. Silence, again.

He probably heard that one many times before that he would get out of here. "Trust me, we'll get out of here, _Daniel_."

Daniel looked startled at first. A stranger knew his name. 'How did he-...? Unless...' Daniel glanced at the desk. 'Oh.' "Seriously, you don't think that my commandos and I were the last group of humanity, right?"

"I just don't want to see more survivors getting killed by those things again." Daniel muttered. "The last time I saw people trying to hold these things back was in 2003 when AMS agents were sent to stop a monster called Magician." That surprised Rogan. "What-? How did you know all of that when you're in here?" Daniel frowned. He didn't want to remember it. Towns burned, city in ruins, dead people all over the streets and ...monsters crawling everywhere. "I saw what the Wheel of Fate saw. Even in its early developing process, it can control other facilities far from here." Daniel paused. "...now, imagine if it get out of here." Rogan didn't want to think about it. The world's current state was already bad enough.

"Those AMS people...They all tried their best to stop the destruction. Too bad, they were all killed." The old and unwelcoming feeling of despair hit Daniel again. That statement made Rogan raise an eye brow. "All killed? Is that what that Wheel of Fate showed you? That's just ridiculous." That caught Daniel's attention. "Ridiculous? What are you saying? This is not a laughing m-" "Say that again that all AMS were killed." Rogan reached in the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his old AMS badge. "Say that again." He showed it to Daniel.

Daniel gawked. "You think that it saw everything? Here's something for you to catch up, kid." Rogan put his badge back in the pocket and pulled another badge out and tossed it to Daniel. "We did try to stop them but we were outnumbered. They spread out faster than we can handle. We thought that we're done...until they came." Rogan pointed to the badge. "An organization called the Endurance sent their team, the SED, to neutralized those things and save the survivors. They hid them in the underground base, far from the devastation." Rogan sighed. "They no longer need us. Lots of things happened so...we all went separate ways."

"I ended up working with the SED while some of us stayed in the underground base with the survivors." anger seeped in Rogan's voice when he talked about SED. Daniel could tell that Rogan doesn't like them. "I...didn't know all of that." Daniel said. He was both happy...but sad at the same time. Humanity survived...but their lives were destroyed by the destruction caused by these creatures. "May I...May I ask you something, sir?"

Rogan was hesitant for a moment. Then he said, "...call me Rogan.". Daniel seemed to recognize that name. 'Father did mention him in his notes...so they really met before.' "Right. May I ask you something, Mr. Rogan?" "What do you want to know?" "...How did you meet my father?" Rogan turned slightly pale. How should he tell this young man here? "...we met each other at a bad place, at the wrong time." That place. That building filled with dead people where he met the scientist who would turn in to a madman. It was some memory that he won't forget. "I see..." Daniel weren't surprised to see the expression on Rogan's face.

"Don't get me wrong," Rogan continued, "…your father was a good friend. A good man." 'I know.' Daniel thought. "My only regret was that I wasn't there by his side when he needed help. None of this should have happen." Rogan muttered with a disappointed tone. He realized that Daniel didn't say a word. He cuddled himself at the corner of the room, staring on the floor. "Daniel?" he didn't answer. "Daniel, you okay there?" Daniel nodded slowly. "I'm fine." he answered. Rogan didn't believe that.

"I take it...You missed him." Rogan said. Daniel was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "The last thing I remember was that I was in my room with him." his voice shook. "When I woke up, I was not in my room. I was in a broken lab. I found myself in this place filled with creatures that wanted to kill me. I was confused. I was lost." Rogan could feel his heart sank slowly. "I ran...hoping to find my father somewhere in this place..." Daniel started to sob softly. "...only to find out from the survivors that he already _died_." Daniel sank his head in his hands and sobbed. "They called him a monster...they called my father a _monster_..."

Rogan ignored the pain in his torso when he pushed the desk behind him to let him move across the room on the wheeled-office chair. He stopped right beside Daniel and put his hand on his shoulders. "No, he's not. He did save you after all." He gently patted Daniel's back. "There, there...it's alright. Just let it out." Rogan started to wonder whether his daughter cried like this before when he wasn't around. Some father he was.

'This is going to be a long wait for someone to notice that I was missing...' Rogan sighed.

'Patience's a virtue...Patience's a virtue...' he kept telling himself over and over.

* * *

_2 weeks later..._

It was some miracle that there were people running in facility, shooting every creature down with their shot guns. A blond teenage girl and a gray haired man shot Death down and continued their way upward. The new intruders reached the top floor. One of them kicked the door opened.

"Dad! I knew you were alive!" the teen rushed to Rogan and hugged him. "Lisa...I figured G would bring you here." Rogan was glad to see his daughter and his old friend made it through. G walked in to the room, looked a bit relax...for a moment. When he heard footsteps behind him, G turned around and was about to pull the trigger when Rogan stopped him.

"Wait! G!"

Daniel was getting used to people pointing their guns at him so he didn't look so startled. He calmly approached them. "Please to meet you, Mr. G..." "What the?! Who the heck are you?". "My name is Daniel Curien." he introduced himself. G stared at him. "Dr. Curien _was_ my father...I believe you knew him well."

G lowered the gun down but still staring at Daniel with suspicion. Lisa also gave Daniel a stare, still wondering whether she should trust him.

"It may be hard to believe but...he's the one who saved my life." Rogan explained when he saw doubts on their face. Lisa looked relax a bit but G's expression didn't change. 'Ah, well...that's G.' Rogan stood up. "He's the only one who can prevent the disaster. I have to go-" he tried to walk but he couldn't. G caught Rogan before he hit the floor.

"You can't! You're hurt." Lisa lifted her gun. "...I'll go. G, take care of dad for me." "Alright. I'll leave everything in your hands. Remember, Lisa...believe in yourself no matter what happen." Rogan said. Deep inside, he was worried that this mission would be too hard for her but when he saw confidence in her...that made him proud. "Believe in yourself, Lisa..." Lisa repeated to herself. "I...think I finally understand what that really means now." She walked out from the room.

Daniel followed her. "Daniel." G called. He tossed his gun at Daniel. "Never go in to a fight empty handed." he spoke sternly. "...and Daniel...keep her safe." Daniel nodded and left the room. Finally, the moment that he had been waiting for has come. He and Lisa were on their way to the chamber.

"The accursed Wheel of Fate...Just wait!"

**Author's note: Sorry for late update. This chapter is a REAL pain in the...hands and brain. (I'm not crying, I swear.)**

**So it finally reaches the main storyline...check. Making the story predictable...check. Making a few more chapters...check. Putting stuff that I'm not supposed to write...double check. Spoiling the ending...scratch that. I know we hate spoilers.**

**...to those who are biologists...I'd like to say sorry for making up silly nonsense.**

**Thanks for reading and viewings...plus the reviews.**


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